More Than Just Friends
by FNAFdoghouse24
Summary: A nineteen year old Pokémon Trainer and his five Pokémon companions were enjoying their long deserved break from Battling. But when a trip into the city leads to the addition of a unique Gardevoir-will things ever be the same again? (Rated M for possible future lemons and cursing).
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

(*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*)

The loud sound of an alarm clock filled the dark, silent room. The young Pokémon Trainer groaned as he rolled over and smacked the grey off button, silencing the loud, repeated noise.

He wanted to so badly close his eyes and go back to sleep, but knew he had things going on today.

The trainer sat up and looked around the dimly lit room. The sun shining through the cracks of the closed blinds, hardly giving the room light.

He looked towards the foot of the bed and saw his Mightyena curled up in a ball, still sound asleep. Man was he jealous.

He threw the covers off of himself and climbed out of bed, a loud yawn escaping his mouth as he stretched. The cracking in his stiff bones sending shivers down his spine.

He tiredly walked out of his bedroom, down the hallway, and into the living room where his Blaziken lay sprawled out on the couch. Machamp and his large frame took the recliner, a Pikachu blanket, too small for him, covering his torso. The Trainer stiffened a light chuckle at the sight, before continuing his way into the kitchen.

He made it to the kitchen, brushing his long, brown bangs from in front of his eyes before putting on a pot of coffee. He needed it to help him get through the day.

As he waited for his coffee to brew, he started breakfast for he and his Pokémon for when they woke up. He didn't make any of them sleep in their Poké balls for thinking that it wouldn't be fair for them to have to spend all their time in them when they weren't battling. He didn't mind them running around with him, anyways. They were all well behaved... for the most part.

He only had five Pokémon. Blaziken being his first. He got him nine years prior back before he started traveling, when he was just a Torchic. He has been by his side from the very beginning of his Pokémon Training days.

He caught his second Pokémon, a Sandslash, on his way from Littleroot Town to Petalburg City. He was already a Sandslash when he found him. He remembers his little unevolved Torchic and his inexperienced trainer self being so confident that he could take him that he went for it.

That was a mistake.

The Sandslash quickly, and swiftly defeated his Torchic. The young Trainer was devastated. After the battle, the Torchic was hurt so the trainer needed to get him to a Pokémon Center. So he did, leaving the victorious Sandslash behind.

Hours after the battle, the trainer was sitting in the Petalburg City Pokémon Center with his healed up Torchic. Torchic felt ashamed for losing the battle even though the trainer told him he was proud of him for trying.

The trainer and his Torchic were on their way out of the Pokémon Center to walk around the city to take in the sights. They weren't walking around long before they were confronted by a Sandslash. It was the same one that defeated them just hours before. For some reason, it had followed them to the City.

The trainer didn't want to fight him again, in fear of losing to him for a second time. But Torchic wanted to fight. The trainer was weary about the whole thing, but he knew his Torchic wanted to impress him, to make up for the earlier loss. So he finally agreed to a rematch.

And after a back and fourth battle, his Torchic was the one left standing this time around. The Trainer was both surprised and happy.

He made his way to his tired Torchic and pulled him into a hug. As they broke the hug, they looked over at the Sandslash, who was pushing himself off of the ground. They made their way over to him to check on him.

The Trainer offered him some berries, but the Sandslash declined. Instead, he gave the Torchic an approving nod as a congratulations for the victory.

He was getting ready to head back into the woods, alone, and hurt, when the trainer stopped him and offered him a spot on their team. The Sandslash was visibly surprised by this. As he thought, the trainer pulled one of his empty Poké balls off of his belt and extended it out.

"It's all yours... if you want it." He said. The Sandslash looked at him before finally nodding. The trainer smiled as Torchic let out an excited cry "Okay then, welcome to the team, buddy." the trainer said before tossing the ball at the Sandslash. The ball opened up and the Sandslash got sucked inside of it. The ball hit the ground before wobbling twice and finally coming to a stop.

The trainer walked over to the ball with a smile on his face and picked it up. Proud of the newest member of his team.

The trainer sat at the small kitchen table sipping his coffee as reminisced, until he heard someone enter the kitchen. He looked at the doorway and saw his large Machamp walk in.

"Morning, Champ." The trainer said, he had nicknamed him 'Champ' because his Machamp had won a local Pokémon weightlifting competition a couple months prior. He thought the nickname was fitting.

"Champ." Machamp replied as he walked over to the fridge and pulled it open. He knew he had to be careful, though. The trainer had already had to replace the fridge twice because of Machamp ripping the door off when he opened it.

As he watched his Pokémon dig through the fridge, he thought back to how he met his Machamp.

He, his newly evolved Combusken, and Sandslash were on their way to Lilycove City to meet up with some of the Trainer's friends. It had been a few months since the trainer set out on his journey. The trio had been making their way around the Hoenn region, battling other trainers, and training up, themselves.

They were close to Lilycove, when they saw a young Machop getting bullied by two Machokes' and a Graveler.

The trio saw the Machop getting ready to attack. They knew already that if he did, he was going to get hurt.

Combusken and Sandslash looked at each other and nodded before jumping over the small set of bushes between them and the Machop and parking themselves in battle stances on either side of him.

Machop was caught slightly off guard by their sudden appearance, but quickly turned his attention back to the three bullies in front of him.

The Trainer watched as the six Pokémon stared each other down, none of them daring to make a move.

"Graveler... Graveler." Graveler said.

"Machoke." One of Machokes' replied.

The Trainer watched, hoping the bullies would just go away. He was surprised when the Graveler and the two Machokes' turned around to leave.

The three smaller Pokémon unwisely let their guard down, however. One of the Machokes' quickly spun around and hit a Karate Chop on Machop sending him flying over the bush and into the young trainer's arms.

Combusken and Sandslash went to attack, but Graveler quickly showed back up and rammed both of them, sending them flying over the bush, too.

The trio of bullies laughed as they headed the other way.

The trainer looked at Combusken and Sandslash to see if they were alright. Luckily, they were. He then looked down at the unconscious Machomp in his arms.

The Machoke obviously hit him so hard he knocked him out. He knew they needed to get him some help.

The trainer stood up and took off running towards Lilycove with his two Pokémon behind him.

Once the group made it to Lilycove, the headed straight for the Pokémon Center.

Nurse Joy took Machomp, while the trainer and his two Pokémon sat and waited. It didn't take long for Nurse Joy to return with a fully healed Machop.

Machop looked up at the trainer, who had a smile on his face, before looking around at Combusken and Sandslash.

"Chop... Chop?" Machop said. The Trainer was getting ready to say something, when Machop took off running past him and out the doors of the Pokémon Center.

The Trainer and his two Pokémon chased after him. They didn't have to run far, however, as Machop was waiting for them outside of the center. He looked like he wanted to battle.

"You want to battle us?" The Trainer asked, Machop nodded. He pointed at the trainer, then himself, then the Poké balls attached to the trainer's belt. The trainer knew exactly what he was saying.

"Okay then. Lets do this, Combusken!" The Trainer said, Combusken jumped out in front of the trainer in a fighting stance.

The two battled. It was a good back and fourth battle that Machop almost won. But he didn't. He made one small mistake, and Combusken capitalized and defeated him.

Machop lay on the ground dizzily as Combusken tried to catch his breath.

"Good job, Combusken!" The Trainer said, causing Combusken to let out a happy cry.

The Trainer then walked over to Machop, detaching a Poké ball from his belt as he did. He kneeled down next to him to see if he was okay.

Machop sat up and looked at the Poké ball in the trainers hand and nodded. The trainer nodded back and smiled before pointing the ball at Machop and pressing the button. The ball opened up and sucked Machop inside. It shook twice before finally stopping.

The trainer smiled as he stood up and looked back towards his other Pokémon.

"I caught a Machop!" He exclaimed happily. Combusken and Sandslash both let out cheers of excitement.

The Trainer let out a little chuckle when he finally broke away from the flashback. Machamp was standing by the counter eating whatever he had found in the fridge.

"Champ?" Machamp said curiously as he held out whatever he was eating, the Trainer shook his head.

"No thanks, Machamp. I have some eggs cooking." The Trainer said as he pointed to the stove, Machamp nodded.

The Trainer walked back over to the eggs and started to push them around with the spatula. He was in the middle of it, when he heard someone else enter the kitchen.

He turned and saw Sandslash standing there.

"Hey, Sandslash. Where's Roserade?" The Trainer asked.

"Sandslash." Sandslash replied as he pointed back out of the kitchen.

Roserade was the newest member of his team. He had already had her for close to four years already, but she was still considered the newest. She was abandoned by her trainer. They found her wandering around Dewford Town looking for food.

The Trainer and his Pokémon befriended her. She especially took a liking to Sandslash. The Trainer didn't question it, though.

After following them around town the whole day, the Trainer offered her a spot on their team. She happily accepted it. The Trainer skipped over battling her, and went straight to catching her in a Poké ball. She didn't object to it. She was happy to have a Trainer that cared about her. And the Trainer was happy to have another great addition to his already strong team. She was also as lazy as Blaziken was, so she liked sleeping in.

Mightyena finally walked in next. The Trainer smiled at him as he patted him on the head.

"Hope you enjoyed sleeping in." The Trainer said jokingly as he grabbed the bowl of food he had prepared for said Pokémon. He sat the bowl down on the floor in front of him and petted him on his way back up "Enjoy." he continued as he walked back to the eggs.

He remembered back to when he got his Mightyena. He got him not too long after he caught Machomp.

The Trainer had decided to head towards Oldale Town to visit his parents and tell them about his journey so far. It wasn't something he had gotten to do since he had started his journey, so he figured it was about time.

They were about halfway there, when they ran into a pack of Mightyena and Poochyena. Some of them being way more protective of their land than others.

The group tried to assure the pack that they didn't mean any harm, and that they were just passing through. But it didn't turn out as well as they had hoped.

The Mightyena were getting ready to attack, when one of them stopped the others.

The Trainer had no clue what they were saying to each other. Regardless, his Pokémon were ready to fight if they had to.

The leader of the Mightyena pack growled at the one that stopped the attack. The two started circling each other.

The leader looked back at The Trainer and his battle ready Pokémon before looking back at the other Mightyena and letting out a loud bark, followed by another growl.

The pack of Mightyena walked away, leaving the other one standing there alone with his head down.

The Trainer looked around at his Pokémon, who were all just as confused as he was.

The group slowly approached the Mightyena.

"Thank you... for calling off your friends." The Trainer thanked him. Mightyena looked up at him and gave him somewhat of a nod, but he looked sad "Are you alright?" He asked. Ths Mightyena looked back towards the ground, letting out a small whimper as it did.

"Combus... Combusken?" Combusken said as he walked closer to the Mightyena. Mightyena looked up at him, and replied with a somewhat low call. Combusken looked back up and the Trainer "Combus... Combusken... Combusken" he said. The Trainer noticed he looked mad.

Combusken pointed at Mightyena, before pointing in the direction of where the pack went, before pointing in the opposite direction and shaking his head.

"They... kicked you out of the pack?" The Trainer asked. Mightyena let out another low cry as he nodded. That irritated the Trainer. He shook his head before finally getting an idea "Hey, Mightyena, would you like to come with us? We could always use another member for the team." He said with a smile. Mightyena looked up at him, before looking around the three Pokémon, who were all nodding in agreement.

It didn't take long for the Mightyena to jump up at the trainer and knock him to the ground, licking his face as he did. The Trainer laughed.

"I'll take that as a yes" The Trainer said with a smile as he patted Mightyena on the head.

The Trainer let out another almost inaudible chuckle as he broke away from the memory.

After several more minutes, the forming group in the kitchen was finally joined by Blaziken and Roserade.

The Trainer passed out everyone's breakfast before sitting back down to eat.

He was hoping today was going to be a good day.

* * *

First chapter of my first Pokémon story!

This was pretty much just a backstory chapter so you guys could see how the Trainer got his Pokémon.

The Trainer does have a name, it will be reveled in the next chapter.

Hope you guys enjoyed and I will see you in the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

After breakfast, it didn't take too long for the Trainer to get ready.

He had cleaned up he and his Pokémon's messes and went and jumped in the shower.

Once he was done in the bathroom, he quickly got dressed before checking to see if everyone else was ready. Luckily, they were.

The Trainer grabbed his bag, threw his black baseball cap on and he and his Pokémon headed off.

They were on their way to meet some of the Trainer's friends at the mall just a few miles down the road from where he and his Pokémon lived in Slateport City.

"So, Blaziken, I hear Luna is going to have her Delphox with her." The Trainer said jokingly. For awhile now, it's been pretty obvious that the Trainer's Blaziken had some kind of Pokécrush on his friend's Delphox. The Trainer didn't question it though.

Blaziken blushed slightly before looking away.

"Blaziken..." Blaziken said. The Trainer let out a little chuckle.

"Champ, champ." Machamp said before breaking out into laughter. Blaziken narrowed his eyes at him.

"Blaziken!" Blaziken exclaimed, Machamp just kept laughing.

The Trainer chuckled again before looking over his shoulder and spotting Sandslash and Roserade falling behind.

"Hey, you two need to keep it up!" The Trainer called. The two Pokémon looked at him before speeding up their walking to catch back up to the group.

The Trainer's apartment building wasn't too far out of the city. They took their usual route to get there. It was just a straight walk on a dirt path that led straight into the city.

Once the group arrived to the city, they set off towards the mall. It was only about a five minute walk from where they came in at.

Once they got to the mall, it didn't take them too long to spot out the Trainer's group of friends.

"Brennan, over here!" Luna's high pitched voice called out as she frantically waved towards the Trainer, he chuckled. Guess it didn't take them too long to spot him either.

Along with Luna was her boyfriend, and one of Brennan's best friends, Lane, and one of Lane's friends, who Brennan had only met once before, Frankie.

As Brennan approached the group, Luna ran up to him and hugged him.

"It's been awhile!" Luna exclaimed, Brennan chuckled as he hugged her back.

"It sure has." He replied.

"Hey, Blaziken. Machamp. Sandslash. Roserade. Mightyena." Luna greeted each Pokémon. They all replied back with either a wave, or their own version of 'hey'.

"Did your hair get more blue from the last time I saw you?" Brennan asked when he noticed her dark blue hair.

"I had to re-dye it. So I decided to go with a different blue this time. What do ya think?" Luna asked, Brennan nodded.

"It's... different." He replied.

"Hmm, well I'm sure Mightyena likes it. Isn't that right, Mightyena?" Luna said in a cutesy baby voice as she kneeled down and rubbed him. Mightyena nodded as he closed his eyes and took in the delightful rubbing feeling.

Brennan rolled his eyes, chuckled, and shook his head.

"Hey! What's the hold up?!" A voice called from the distance.

Brennan looked over and saw Lane, Frankie, Luna's Delphox, a Greninja, and a Sceptile waiting for them.

Luna finally broke away from rubbing Mightyena, to his disappointment of course, and the group walked over to... the other group.

"Hey man, long time no see." Lane said as he extended his hand, Brennan shook it.

"You can say that again." He said "What's up, Frankie." he said as he looked over at the slightly taller, black haired male.

"Nothing much dude." Frankie replied.

"You guys ready to go in?!" Luna asked in an excited tone "I'm going to buy Delphox a new hat because of her victory over that Gallade the other day!" She continued.

Blaziken was trying to avoid eye contact with Delphox. It didn't work to well though. He looked over at her and saw her giving him a half-lidded smile. He blushed and looked away.

"Yeah, lets go." Brennan said.

The group was getting ready to start walking again, when Frankie stopped them.

"Wait. You can't go in there with all of your Pokémon out." Frankie said to Brennan. Brennan was both confused and annoyed by the comment.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"New mall rule. Trainers' are only allowed to have one Pokémon out at a time while in the mall." Frankie replied.

"When did they add that rule? I've come in here with all of them out before." Brennan said.

"Just recently actually. It's because of Trainers' going in with more than one Pokémon out and not being able to watch them all at once. It's to prevent any kind of accident or damage being done to the property by Pokémon who aren't being watched." Frankie explained, Brennan shook his head.

"I guess that makes sense. But it's still a dumb rule." He said before turning back to face his Pokémon "I'm sorry guys, but we have to follow the rules." he continued, his Pokémon nodded in understandment.

Brennan pulled one of the Poké balls off of his belt and aimed it at Machamp.

"I'll let you guys back out as soon as we leave, alright?" Brennan said before returning Machamp to his Poké ball. Mightyena, Roserade, and Sandslash soon followed suit, leaving Blaziken freed. Brennan could tell Blaziken was happy about being the one chosen to be left out. "Hey, don't you be all happy. I didn't choose favorites. I only left you out so you could enjoy your time with Delphox." He said with a somewhat devious smile.

Blaziken went wide eyed. He quickly tried to pull his Poké ball off of Brennan's belt, only to have his hand smacked away.

"Nope." Brennan said as he started walking with the group again.

"Blaziken..." Blaziken mumbled as he crossed his arms. He looked up and saw Delphox looking back at him. She winked causing him to quickly look away again.

As the group was walking towards the entrance of the mall, out of the corner of his eye, Brennan noticed something moving in the bushes towards the edge of the forest on the side of the building. He squinted to get a better look at what it was.

He was somewhat surprised when he saw a fully evolved Gardevoir looking around at all the people walking around. Brennan stared at her.

Gardevoir continued looking around until she saw Brennan had spotted her.

Brennan gave a questioning look and started to sway off track from the mall over to her. That's when the Gardevoir took off back into the forest.

Brennan stood there staring at the now vacant spot the Gardevoir had taken up just moments ago.

"What the hell." Brennan muttered.

"Hey, are you alright?" Luna asked when the group had finally noticed he was not following them anymore. Brennan turned around and saw everyone staring at him.

"Yeah, I-uh... just saw a Gardevoir over there. It was weird." Brennan replied.

"What's so weird about that? She's more than likely a wild Pokémon, and probably lives out in those woods." Frankie said, Brennan nodded.

"Yeah, I know. It was just weird." He said.

The others just kinda shrugged it off as the group once again started walking towards the mall. And low in behold, they actually made it inside this time.

"Okay, first stop, the clothing boutique!" Luna exclaimed.

"Delphox!" Delphox said excitedly, herself.

The guys just followed the girls as they headed to the boutique.

They kept silence most of the walk, until it was just too unnerving. Especially in a crowded mall of Trainers' and their Pokémon making conversation.

"So... Frankie, I see you finally got Frogadier to evolve into a Greninja." Brennan said, Frankie looked over at him and nodded.

"Yep, took awhile, but it happened. Had to do a lot of training and battling to do it. But I'm proud of him." Frankie said before looking over at his Greninja.

"You're Greninja is cool and all, but what about my Sceptile? He's obviously better." Lane said with a somewhat cocky attitude.

"Yeah, dude, your Sceptile's cool. But... my Greninja is better." Frankie replied.

"No, no. Sceptile is better." Lane said.

"You can think that all you want." Frankie said.

Brennan and Blaziken looked at each other, both starting to feel a little uncomfortable because of the bickering.

"It's the truth. My Sceptile is better than your Greninja." Lane said.

"My Greninja beat your Sceptile the day he evolved into Greninja." Frankie said. Lane went wide eyed before jumping out in front of Frankie.

"I told you he was feeling under the weather that day!" Lane yelled, his head getting big and face getting red.

"You challenged us." Frankie said with a chuckle as he walked around him. Lane growled under his breath.

As Lane and Frankie argued, Brennan and Blaziken looked around to see if there were any stores they wanted to run into.

As they walked along, Brennan couldn't help but think about that Gardevoir. He didn't know why. It's not like he had never seen wild Gardevoir before. But for some reason, this one felt... different.

Blaziken looked over at his trainer and saw that he looked like he had something on his mind.

"Blaziken?" Blaziken asked. Brennan looked at him.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Brennan replied, Blaziken was unsure. He had been around Brennan long enough to know when he wasn't fine.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blazi...ken?" Blaziken asked.

"Buddy, I'm fine. Trust me." Brennan replied, trying to reassure his worried Pokémon.

"Oh, yeah?! Lets go right now! I'll show ya who's Pokémon is better!" Lane exclaimed, getting both Brennan and Blaziken's attention.

"Fine! I've defeated you once, I can do it again!" Frankie exclaimed. The two trainers were in each others faces, steam coming out of their ears and fire in their eyes as they glared at each other.

"Alright, alright. Calm down you two. You're going to get us thrown out." Brennan said as he went and got in the middle of the two trainers.

"He started it." Both Lane and Frankie said in unison as they crossed their arms and looked away from each other.

"Maybe you two should be in Poké balls instead of your other Pokémon." Brennan said as he looked between the two trainers'.

"Is everything okay?" A voice asked as it approached the group.

Brennan looked over and saw Luna and Delphox approaching them, two bags in hand.

"Yeah, uh... these two just got into a small disagreement." Brennan replied.

"About what?" Luna asked.

"It's not important." Brennan replied.

"Hmm..." Luna hummed as she looked from Brennan over to Lane and Frankie, who still had annoyed looks on their faces, their arms crossed, and their backs turned to each other. "Are you sure it's not important?" She asked, looking at Brennan once again. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure" He said. Luna still looked like she was unsure, so Brennan decided to try and change the subject. "So, looks like you two enjoyed yourselves." He said, a huge smile formed on Luna's face as she nodded.

"We did! There were so many cute things in there, I just wanted everything!" Luna exclaimed "Delphox picked out this really cute hat, too!" She continued, Delphox smiled and nodded.

"That's cool." Brennan said.

Luna went digging through the bag for something, eventually pulling out a hat.

"Here you go, Delphox." She said as she handed Delphox the hat. Delphox gladly took it before placing it on her head, right between her large ears.

It was an orange snapback cap with yellow stitching, a black bill, and a picture of a chibi Blaziken on the front.

Delphox gave Blaziken another half-lidded smile after she put the hat on. Blaziken blushed much more than Brennan had ever seen him blush before. Brennan laughed at his Pokémon's expression.

"Awe, Blaziken, looks like you have a fan." Brennan said teasingly. His Pokémon, although still blushing, gave him an annoyed look.

"B-Blaziken!" Blaziken said.

"Delphox." Delphox purred as she stepped over to Blaziken. She nuzzled her head against his chest. He was blushing so much, he looked more red than he usually is.

Brennan couldn't help but laugh as Luna giggled.

"Awe, isn't that the cutest?!" Luna exclaimed.

Luna quickly pulled her phone out and snapped a picture of the two.

"I had to get a picture of this. It's just too adorable not to." Luna said with a smile.

"You mind sending me that pic?" Brennan asked, Luna shook her head.

"Not at all." She replied with a smile.

"I have to make it up to the others for putting them back in their Poké balls. I'm sure this'll do the trick." Brennan said. Luna giggled before playfully shoving him.

"Stop teasing him." She said. Brennan chuckled. "Alright, Delphox, that's enough. You're going to make him blush to death." She continued as she looked back at the two Pokémon.

"Del-phox." Delphox crooned as she lifted her head off of Blaziken and looked up at him.

Delphox turned to walk back over to Luna, and when she did, Blaziken clutched his chest and fell to the floor. Both of his legs in the air.

Brennan walked over to him.

"You okay there, buddy?" Brennan asked.

"B-B-Blaziken..." Blaziken replied in an almost inaudible tone.

"So who's up for lunch?" Luna asked "I'm starving!" She continued.

"I could go for some lunch." Lane replied.

"Gre-ninja." Greninja said as he looked at Frankie. Frankie shrugged.

"Sure." He said.

"Brennan, Blaziken, what about you two?" Luna asked. Brennan looked at her as he pulled Blaziken back to his feet.

"Yeah, lunch sounds cool." He replied.

"Awesome!" Luna exclaimed. "We can go get some food from the food court, and then go eat outside by the fountain. That way we can let all our other Pokémon out and they can enjoy it with us." She continued.

"That's a good idea." Brennan said, Luna smiled.

After, the group headed to the food court and spent more money on food than they actually intended to, before heading back outside of the mall.

They headed over to where the large fountain was out front, and released all of the Pokémon.

After the food was passed out, everyone was enjoying it as they started plentiful conversations.

As Brennan sat there eating, he looked over towards the edge of the forest where the Gardevoir had appeared earlier. It hadn't come back.

As he finished the burger he had gotten, he grabbed the little box of berries he had bought and started to head over there.

"Brennan, where are you going?" Luna asked, Brennan turned and saw all eyes were on him at this point.

"Going over there a minute." He replied.

"You're going to see if you can find that Gardevoir, aren't you?" Lane asked, Brennan shrugged.

"Maybe." He replied.

"Okay, just don't take too long." Luna said, Brennan nodded.

"Blaziken?" Blaziken asked as he started to stand up. Brennan stopped him.

"No, it's okay. You stay here and eat. I won't be gone long." Brennan said. Blaziken didn't really like his trainer going off like this without him, but he eventually, and reluctantly nodded.

Brennan walked over to the bush he had seen the Gardevoir at earlier. To no surprise, there wasn't anything there anymore.

"Uh... Gardevoir?" Brennan called as he took a step past the bush and into the forest. "I don't know where you are, or if you can even hear me, but I brought you some berries." He continued as he held out the small box of berries to seemingly nothing. "I don't know if you eat berries, or even like them. But I thought you'd be hungry." He said as he continued to look around. "I'll just leave them here I guess. I hope you get them. You probably won't, though" he said, muttering the last part.

Brennan sat the box of berries down in the grass by the bush the Gardevoir had been at. After which he headed out of the forest and back over to his group.

Gardevoir had been a lot closer than Brennan had thought. She had been hiding behind a small set of trees just a few feet away from him.

She came out once she saw him walking away. She went over to the berries and observed them before bending down to pick them up.

 _"Thank you, stranger."_ Gardevoir thought to herself as she watched the trainer walk back to his waiting group.


	3. Chapter 3

MTJF Chap 3

After finishing lunch and going back inside the mall to hang out for a few more hours, Brennan and his Pokémon ended up parting ways with Luna, Lane, and Frankie.

Blaziken had just wanted to get out of there. Delphox had done enough flirting with him today to last a life time. He barely got out away without having a heart attack.

The group walked the trail back towards their apartment, the sun setting in the distance.

Even though he wouldn't admit it, Brennan was fond of the sunset. It was beautiful. The blue, orange, and yellow mixing together made everything seem so...calm. The soft breeze that went with it tugging on the loose hair straying from the back of his hat, running halfway down his neck.

Brennan looked around at his Pokémon, who also seemed to be enjoying the sunset.

The walk back didn't seem to last as long as the walk into the city. Mainly because Brennan's mind strayed back to that Gardevoir.

What was the reason she was standing there watching the passers-by's? Did she just enjoy seeing the people? Did she stand there wondering what it would be like to have a Trainer? Was she even a wild Pokémon, or did she actually have a Trainer?

There were just too many questions running around in Brennan's mind. And he didn't know why.

He had been a Pokémon Trainer for almost ten years now. And throughout those almost ten years, he had seen plenty of wild Pokémon before. So he honestly didn't know why this Gardevoir felt different to him.

Brennan pushed his thoughts aside when the group came up on their apartment. He pulled his key out and unlocked the door, allowing his Pokémon to enter first before following them in.

"I'm going to jump in the shower. Behave while I'm in there." Brennan said sternly as he looked around at the group, they nodded.

Brennan mainly did that to mess with them. He had trained them better than to act out when he wasn't around. And for the most part, they actually were a pretty well behaved group of Pokémon.

Brennan had gone into the bathroom and stripped out of his clothes before hopping in the shower. He stood under the water, allowing it to run down his body, wondering if that Gardevoir had actually gotten the berries he left.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir had returned to the small cave she had been living in for as long as she could remember, with the berries in her hand.

She sat down on the cave floor, getting comfortable, before cracking open the box and pulling one out.

She did indeed love berries like every other Pokémon did.

As she took a bite from the first berry, she savored the taste of it. It had to have been the most delicious thing she had eaten in awhile.

It had been tough surviving out in the wild and without a trainer. But somehow, Gardevoir managed to do it.

She had spent a good portion of her life alone. She never got to meet the two Pokémon that birthed her. The only thing she remembered was after she hatched from her egg, she was in the middle of the forest, no one anywhere around her.

The newly hatched Ralts that she had been, wandering around by herself for awhile until she was found by a Gothitelle.

Gothitelle took care of the young Ralts; raised her as if she was her own.

She grew very close to Gothitelle throughout the time they were together. She was the closest thing Gardevoir had ever had to a parent.

She taught Gardevoir about surviving, about protecting herself and her food from other wild Pokémon that would surely try to take it from her, and she helped her practice her psychic moves.

Gardevoir truly believed that if it wasn't for Gothitelle, she would have been dead along time ago.

The one thing that Gardevoir didn't like thinking back on, though, was the last time she saw Gothitelle.

The two Pokémon had been out searching for food to eat, mainly berries because that's what Gothitelle loved. They were on their way back to where they had been living when they were attacked by a group of Ursaring.

There were four of them, they had surrounded the two psychic type Pokémon.

Gardevoir, at the time a Kirlia, was scared out of her mind. She didn't know what to do, and Gothitelle could tell that.

Gothitelle knew that they were outnumbered by the group of much larger, and hungry Pokémon. And she knew there was no way they were both getting out of it.

The only thing Gothitelle cared about at that point was Kirlia getting out of there so she didn't get hurt.

Gothitelle told Kirlia in her head to run. Tears starting to form in her eyes as she shook her head.

It took Gothitelle yelling at her to run to finally get Kirlia to do as she was told.

The next thing Kirlia knew was she was running in a straight direction away from both the group of Ursaring... and Gothitelle. Not looking back as she did.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she heard loud roars, and a scream.

Kirlia ran so far, for so long, she didn't even know where she was at when she finally stopped.

She stood there still, looking around the unfamiliar area she was in.

Kirlia eventually spotted a small cave and made her way to it, slowly stepping inside. Once she felt safe enough, she slid down one of the hard, cold stone walls, tears starting to pour from her eyes again.

She was alone. The closest thing she had to family was gone.

Kirlia sat there and cried, and cried, and cried, and cried. She cried so much, she didn't think she was ever going to be able to cry again.

Gardevoir finally broke away from her thoughts. She hadn't realized she had been crying until she felt a tear drip off of her face and onto her hand.

She looked down at the hand she was holding the first berry in, it now damp with her tear.

She wiped her face with her free hand before finishing her berry.

She hated getting lost in thoughts about the past. They always made her feel sick and depressed knowing how much she's lost.

She pulled another berry out of the box and took a bite of it as she looked out of the cave. The sun was setting. Gardevoir loved it. It calmed her. Relaxed her. Made her forget about the past, at least for a little while.

She sat there enjoying berries and staring out of the cave until the sky went dark, officially signaling the end of another day. She sighed as she finally looked away from the opening of the cave.

The cave was dark, too. But after living outside as long as she had, and getting used to not having any let after the sun went down for the day. Gardevoir had grown accustomed to seeing at least halfway decently in the dark.

She reached for another berry, but felt nothing. She looked down at the box next to her and saw that it was empty. She frowned.

She hadn't realized she had eaten all of them. She was too focused on watching the sunset to even notice.

And just like that, she was without food again.

Gardevoir felt tears wanting to make their way out of her, but she managed to hold them back. They weren't because she was sad. But because she was frustrated. Frustrated with herself for chowing down on a full box of berries when she knew damn well that they could have lasted her a couple of days if she ate them sparingly.

That would have been a couple of days without worrying about going hungry. A couple of days without worrying about traveling around the forest again, looking through every berry bush she sees hoping she would be lucky enough to spot a berry that she had somehow missed, only to find bushes that had already been picked clean.

As she fought back her tears, Gardevoir thought back to the human that had given her the box of berries. She remembered he had been the same human who spotted her watching the people earlier in the day.

She was confused as to why he would go out of his way to give her food. Confused as to why he would spend his hard earned money feeding a wild Pokémon that he had never met before.

She knew it from the minute she saw the human staring at her, that there was something about him. Something that made him different from every other human that had ever passed by her.

Something told her that the human would be back. She could sense it. Feel it even. And she was hoping her feeling was right. Hoping that maybe he would bring her some more berries, as selfish as she felt that was. He had already brought her berries once, why would he do it again?

Gardevoir sighed again as she leaned her head back against the wall. Her tears had finally subdued. Now she sat in silence. Alone, like every other night.

•••

•••

•••

After Brennan got out of the shower, he pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and a white wife beater, before heading into the living room to see what the others were up to.

They were gathered around watching some cartoon on tv, none of which any of them were even really paying attention to.

Brennan thought it was weird how much his Pokémon acted like him. When he would watch tv, most of them time he would flip through the channels until he found something even remotely interesting to watch. Whatever he found the most interesting, he would leave on even if he wasn't even paying attention to it.

After almost a minute of standing in the doorway watching his Pokémon, Machamp finally noticed him.

"Champ?" Machamp said curiously as he sat up from his chair and pointed at the tv.

"I think I'm going to go make a quick snack and then head to bed. I'm tired." Brennan replied. Machamp nodded before sinking back into his chair. Brennan chuckled before heading into the kitchen.

After making a quick sandwich, Brennan headed into his room to relax before bed.

It was only eight-thirty, but for some reason, he was feeling pretty tired.

The others wanted to stay up and watch tv for a little while. Brennan didn't care. He just told them not to leave the apartment... or break anything. He knew they wouldn't.

He lay in bed, surrounded by nothing but silence and darkness. Exactly what he needed to fall asleep.

He couldn't though, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fall asleep.

His mind keep wandering back to that Gardevoir. And he didn't know why.

He had seen plenty of stray Pokémon before, he didn't know this Gardevoir felt different.

Brennan pulled his pillow over his face and let out a loud groan. He just wanted to stop thinking and go to sleep.

He tried to clear his mind and think about nothing, but it didn't work. That's when he finally realized something.

Brennan pulled the pillow off of his face, giving him full view of the ceiling once more.

He knew that there was only one way he was going to be able to get this Gardevoir off of his mind. He needed answers.

He needed all of these questions he had running through his mind answered. So that's what he planned on doing.

He decided that first thing in the morning, he was going to head back to the forest behind the mall and find Gardevoir. No matter how long it took. He was going to find her and get these questions answered.

He lay there relieved that he finally came up with a somewhat decent plan. Now he just needed to get some sleep. He was hoping he could keep this off of his mind long enough to allow that happen.

Once he finally relaxed himself, he closed his eyes. His relaxing didn't last too long though until he heard scratching at his door. He knew exactly what it was.

He climbed out of bed and walked over to the door before opening it. Mightyena was standing outside.

"You want in buddy?" Brennan asked, Mightyena nodded. Brennan chuckled and stepped aside, allowing the Pokémon to come into the room.

Mightyena walked past him and over to the bed before jumping onto it. Brennan closed the door back and walked back over to the bed, himself, before climbing back in and pulling the covers back over himself.

He felt Mightyena at his feet trying to get comfortable.

"So, how do you feel about taking another trip into the city tomorrow?" Brennan asked when he felt Mightyena finally settle. Mightyena let out a quiet, yet excited cry. Brennan chuckled.

"Cool. You better get some sleep then, we have an early morning ahead of us." Brennan said.

It didn't take too long for Mightyena to fall asleep. Now he was just hoping he could do the same.


	4. Chapter 4

It took Brennan another hour and a half to fall asleep after he let Mightyena in, and it didn't help that morning seemed to come quicker than it usually did.

( *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* )

The loud sound of Brennan's alarm clock rang throughout the room, causing him to halfway open his eyes so he could find the button to silence it.

After he smacked the button and silence the noise, he sat up. He looked towards the foot of the bed and saw Mightyena still sound asleep. He honestly didn't know how he was able to always sleep through the alarm. The damn thing was loud as hell.

Brennan shook it off before climbing out of bed and heading towards the bathroom to jump in the shower. He knew the water would wake him up.

He honestly wanted to go back to bed, but he was determined to find that Gardevoir today.

He jumped in the shower, allowing the water to run down his face and wake him up some more. That always seemed to help him.

He washed himself before climbing out, quickly getting dressed, and heading to the kitchen for some coffee.

As he passed through the living room, he saw Machamp and Blaziken were still sound asleep. He rolled his eyes before heading into the kitchen.

Making coffee first thing in the morning was a daily routine of his, so at this point he pretty much got everything going in one quick series of motions.

He got his coffee going before heading back to his room to grab his bag and hat. Mightyena was still asleep, but now he was sprawled out instead of laying curled in a ball.

"Hey, Mightyena?" Brennan said as he pet the sleeping Pokémon. Mightyena stirred and let out a groggy groan, but didn't open his eyes. "Hey, buddy, ya got to get up if you want to come into the city with me." He continued. Mightyena groaned again before opening one of his sleepy eyes "Wakey, wakey, buddy." He said before chuckling.

Mightyena forced open his other eye before sitting up and yawning. Brennan knew he was more than likely still tired.

"Come on, I'll make you some breakfast before we head out." Brennan said as he pet him on the head once again before heading back out of the bedroom, this time slowly being followed by Mightyena.

Once he got back into the living room, he saw Machamp sitting up and stretching.

"Good, you're up. Wake the others up and tell 'em to come to the kitchen for breakfast. We have something to do this morning." Brennan said, Machamp yawned before nodding.

Brennan walked into the kitchen with Mightyena following behind.

At this point, his Pokémon had gotten so used to eating human food, Brennan didn't even have to go out of his way to buy Pokémon food anymore.

Machamp and Blaziken hated it anyways, so Brennan figured just feeding them all regular food was fine.

They didn't all scarf down junk food all the time. Even though he knew they weren't supposed to be eating regular food, he did have limits for them.

He quickly threw some eggs on the skillet and some bread in the toaster before pouring himself some coffee. Mightyena sat next to the table staring up at his trainer, as he waited patiently for his breakfast.

As Brennan stood there cooking and sipping his coffee, his Pokémon started entering the kitchen.

"Mornin' " Brennan said as he turned around to face them. For the most part, they all still looked relatively tired.

"Blaziken?" Blaziken said curiously as he stretched.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why we're up so early. I'll explain everything after breakfast." Brennan replied.

The group of Pokémon took that as a well enough answer as they waited for their breakfast to be done.

Luckily, Brennan had gotten so used to having to cook for everyone every morning, that it didn't seem like it took nearly as long to do so anymore.

After there were enough eggs and toast for the whole group, Brennan fixed everyone's plates and passed them out before taking a seat at the table.

Brennan was usually relatively slow when it came to eating, but today, today was different. He wanted to get done and get into the city as fast as he could. He was excited. Nervous, but excited.

He was just glad it usually didn't take his Pokémon any longer than five minutes to eat.

He finished his food around the same time his Pokémon did, before gathering the plates and tossing them in the sink, telling himself he would get to the dishes later.

After breakfast, Brennan grabbed his things and led his Pokémon out of their apartment and onto the trail heading towards the city.

"Champ?" Champ was the first one to speak up, breaking the short-lived silence that had surrounded the group.

"Yeah, I do owe you guys an explanation." Brennan started "We're heading back to the mall, and we're going to look for that Gardevoir we saw yesterday." He explained.

"Slash. Sandslash?" Sandslash asked.

"I'm assuming you want to know why." Brennan said as he looked back at the Pokémon. Sandslash nodded. "Because I need to find a few things out." He said, not being too specific with his reply.

After, the group stayed pretty quiet. Brennan's mind once again wandering to that Gardevoir.

He looked down at his watch and saw it was now almost nine o'clock. It was pretty early when he got up, he didn't realize it had taken them this long to get to this point.

They were almost into the city. They could see it in the distance.

Once they actually got into the city, it didn't take them too long to get to the mall.

The mall itself had just opened. Opening at nine every morning. There weren't too many people there yet. Brennan figured the ones that were, were more than likely the shop employees.

Once the group got to the front where they had met Luna, Lane, and Frankie the previous day, he immediately looked over to where he had spotted Gardevoir. She wasn't there this time.

Brennan headed straight towards the forest, with his confused Pokémon behind him.

"Blaziken?" Blaziken said curiously.

"We're going to find Gardevoir." Brennan replied, not looking back as he did so.

The group stepped past the bushes and into the forest, with Brennan at the lead.

The first thing Brennan looked for was to see if the box of berries was gone. It was.

He was hoping Gardevoir found them, but honestly wouldn't be too surprised if she didn't.

"Alright, stay close. Keep your eyes open for Gardevoir." Brennan said. His Pokémon nodded as they broke away from each other to look around.

Brennan walked deeper away from the parking lot. He had never actually been this far into the forest over here, so it was kinda new.

"Gardevoir?" Brennan said curiously as he slowly paced through the endless trees and bushes. The only sound that could be heard was the grass crunching under his feet. "Gardevoir, uh-it's Brennan, the guy that left those berries. I just wanted to see if you got them." He called as he continued to trek through.

After he once again didn't get a response, he stopped and looked around. He saw nothing but the trees surrounding him. At this point, his Pokémon weren't even in sight anymore.

"Guys?" Brennan said curiously as he continued to look around. That's when he felt like he wasn't alone anymore.

Brennan quickly turned on his heels, looking in every direction. He knew someone... or something, was around.

"Who's there?!" Brennan called out.

"Swellow!" He heard a loud call. He quickly turned around just in time to dodge a Swellow that was trying to use quick attack on him.

"Hey! Calm down!" Brennan exclaimed as he quickly climbed back to his feet. The Swellow ignored him and tried to attack him again.

Brennan started backing up, until he backed into a tree. The Swellow quickly closed in on him and went for another quick attack. Brennan closed his eyes and gulped, ready to take whatever amount of pain he was about to endure.

But nothing ever came.

Brennan slowly opened one of his eyes, there standing in front of him, protecting him with a barrier, was non other than Gardevoir. A small smile crept onto Brennan's face.

"Gardevoir!" Gardevoir yelled. The Swellow quickly flew away.

Gardevoir watched before lowering her barrier and turning to face Brennan.

"It's you." Brennan said with a smile. "I've been looking for you." He continued.

"Voir." Gardevoir said.

Brennan stood there, taking in the Gardevoir's appearance. This was the first time he had actually seen her up close.

The first thing he noticed, even though he felt a little perverted, was the fact that this Gardevoir had breasts. They weren't huge, but they were breasts. None of the other Gardevoir he had seen had them. He blushed, as his eyes traveled down to them.

Besides that, she maintained the usual height and petiteness of a normal Gardevoir. He large red spike was still protruding from her chest, although it was smushed between her breasts. Her green hair covered most of her face, except her large red eyes and a small portion of her pale, white skin.

"I-I-I... wanted to see if you got those berries that I left. I got them for you, but couldn't find you to give them to you." Brennan said, quickly looking back up to her face. Gardevoir nodded.

"Gardevoir. Garde." She said. Brennan smiled. He was actually really relived that she got the berries.

"That's awesome. I'm glad you found them." Brennan said.

"Blaziken!" Brennan heard Blaziken yell. He quickly looked over and tried to stop him, but couldn't.

Blaziken flew towards Gardevoir using flare blitz. Gardevoir quickly teleported away to dodge it.

"Gardevoir! Wait!" Brennan yelled, but she was gone.

Blaziken landed and looked towards his trainer. Brennan narrowed his eyes at him.

"What did you do that for?!" Brennan yelled.

"Blaziken! Blaze!" Blaziken replied as he pointed to where Gardevoir had been standing.

Mightyena, Machamp, Sandslash, and Roserade all appeared together, more than likely do to the commotion.

"She wasn't attacking me! We were talking!" Brennan exclaimed.

"Blazi-ken!" Blaziken yelled defensively.

Brennan was mad. He stood there staring at his Pokémon. Furious with him.

He had managed to do what he wanted to do, and that was find Gardevoir. He's not talking to her for two minutes, and Blaziken shows up, tries to attack her, and makes her run off.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir had teleported away just enough to where she could still see the trainer. He was now arguing with his Blaziken.

She really wanted to go back over to him, but didn't want to get attacked again.

She saw four more Pokémon run up, she figured they must have also belonged to the trainer.

She had been on her way to the small lake that was nearby for some water. That's when she heard the trainer's voice yelling for her.

She followed his voice to find him. Once she did, she saw him being attacked by that Swellow. That's when she stepped in to help.

Gardevoir didn't know the trainer. She knew she owed him for the berries he left her. He didn't know her, but he still did something for her. She didn't help him because she 'owed' him, she helped him because she wanted to.

She stood there watching as the trainer and his Blaziken argued. She looked down towards the ground when she realized it was realistically her fault.

"Look, let's just find Gardevoir again. This time, don't try to attack her." The trainer said sternly as he looked at Blaziken.

She stood there watching as the group started looking around. She was hoping that the trainer would come her way, but the Blaziken did instead.

Gardevoir shook her head before walking off in the opposite direction. She didn't want to deal with Blaziken again.

She was so used to seeing all of the same grass and trees everyday, she knew exactly where she was at. She walked through the forest, until she finally came to the lake.

She did feel bad for leaving the trainer looking for her, but she wanted to see him, not his Pokémon.

She slowly lowered herself onto her knees in front of the water. She cupped her hands and lowered them into the cool, blue water. She scooped the water up to her mouth and started drinking.

She enjoyed it. The water was always so cool. She didn't know how it managed to stay so clean, but it did. Its not like she minded it.

As she drank the last of the water in her hands, she lowered them and let them rest against her knees. She stared at her reflection in the water.

Gardevoir had never really cared how she looked. She didn't think her appearance was anything special. She had seen plenty of human women when she would watch all the people from her spot at the edge of the forest, and she thought most of the women she had seen were beautiful. She was both sad and disappointed that she would never be able to look that beautiful.

She sighed as she stood back up and started heading back towards her cave.

•••

•••

•••

After searching the forest for almost another hour, neither Brennan nor any of his Pokémon had managed to find Gardevoir.

Brennan was still ticked off at Blaziken for scaring her away.

The group had met back up and headed out of the forest. Brennan had already decided that he was going to run into the mall and get Gardevoir another box of berries before they headed back to the apartment.

He trusted his Pokémon enough to stay put by the fountain outside, while he ran inside.

Brennan ran inside the mall and to the food court where he had bought the berries the previous day. He bought another box and was heading out of the mall, when he heard a very familiar voice call his name.

"Brennan?!" The voice exclaimed. Brennan stopped and turned around to see Luna, Lane, Delphox, and Sceptile approaching him.

"Oh, hey. What are you guys doing here?" Brennan asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Luna exclaimed.

"We're here returning something Luna bought for her Pachirisu because it was too big." Lane explained. Brennan nodded.

"Pachirisu is pretty small. I figure it would be pretty easy to be able to pick the right size for him." He said.

"I know, I know. Lane said the same thing. It's just, the little shirt was soooo cute! And I got in the smallest size they had." Luna said. "So, what are you doing here?" She asked, almost completely forgetting about the conversation they were just having.

"Oh, I needed to get some things." Brennan replied. Lane looked down and saw the box of berries through the bag he was holding.

"Let me guess, you bought those for that Gardevoir, right?" Lane asked. Brennan scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Dude, why are you still hung up on it?" He asked.

"I don't know. Honestly, I don't." Brennan replied, not really sure of the answer, himself.

"Where's Blaziken? I figured you'd have him out with you." Luna said.

"They're outside waiting for him. So I better get going." Brennan replied. Luna nodded.

"Okay. We'll talk to you later then." She said. Brennan nodded.

"Yep, you will." He replied.

"Del-phox." Delphox said. Brennan looked at her.

"I'll tell Blaziken you said hi." He said with a smile. Delphox smiled back.

After Brennan said his goodbyes, he headed back outside to his waiting Pokémon.

"Alright, I'm going to leave these for Gardevoir. I don't want you guys following me back in there, alright?" Brennan said, his Pokémon replied with nods.

Brennan headed back into the forest and to where he had left the berries the previous day. He looked around hoping to spot Gardevoir, but he didn't.

"I-uh don't know if you're around, but I brought you some more berries. Kinda as an apology for what happened earlier. I'm going to leave them where I left them last night. I hope you find them." Brennan called out before setting the berries on the ground.

He stood up and looked around again, again spotting nothing, before heading back out of the forest.

He didn't make it far before he thought he heard someone say "Thank you." He quickly turned back around to face the edge of the forest where he had just been, but still didn't see anything.

He shook his head, determining his mind was playing tricks on him, before heading back to his Pokémon.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir stood out of sight with the box of berries in her hand. She watched the trainer as he walked back to his group.

She smiled, thinking that the confused look on the trainers face when she thanked him was pretty cute.

She hoped that this visit wasn't a one time thing. She hoped that he came back. She hoped she saw him again.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a few days now since the day Brennan paid his first visit to Gardevoir. He had gone back every day since then with a box of berries and the hope that he would see Gardevoir again.

Usually she would stay hid and he wouldn't be able to find her. She seemed like she only came out to see him if his Pokémon weren't around. He played it off as maybe her being shy? Either that or she was worried they would attack her after what Blaziken had done.

He and his Pokémon were currently on their way into the city to head to the mall. Brennan had bought two boxes of berries the previous day so he didn't have to worry about going into the mall right away to buy some.

The light, morning breeze felt amazing to Brennan. That was just another plus about making these trips back and forth everyday.

The trips seemed to be getting shorter and shorter, too, which was just another bonus.

Brennan's Pokémon didn't seem to mind the trips either. They were happy to be getting out of the apartment and doing something. Especially Mightyena. He in particular loved being outside. He was always so excited when they had to make a trip into the city.

The group finally made it into the city. It was already after ten, so the streets were pretty busy with people heading to work, or heading to the store, or just enjoying a day out. It was pretty relaxing taking a walk around town, especially on a nice, cool day like this.

They finally reached the mall not too long after. It was already pretty busy. Not like it mattered to Brennan though.

Brennan headed straight towards the spot where he first found Gardevoir, his Pokémon were following right behind him.

He stepped through the bush and into the forest beyond. The first thing he looked for was the berry box he had left the previous day. It was gone. He smiled.

He walked further into the greenery and looked around, hoping he'd spot Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir? It's Brennan... the trainer." Brennan called out. This is what he usually had to do to get her to come out.

When she didn't appear, he turned back to face his Pokémon.

"Fall back, guys, I'll be okay." Brennan said. His Pokémon, especially Blaziken, were unsure. Again, none of them were fans of letting their trainer go off without them. "This won't take long, I promise." He continued. His Pokémon looked around at each other, before Blaziken reluctantly nodded.

"Blaziken." Blaziken said. Brennan nodded.

"Trust me, I'll yell if I need you guys." Brennan assured. After, Blaziken and the rest of Brennan's Pokémon started heading back towards where they had entered at, leaving Brennan by himself.

After they were gone, Brennan looked around. He was hoping he'd have a better chance at Gardevoir coming out if she saw he was alone.

"Gardevoir? I have some berries if you-" Brennan was saying before being interrupted.

"-Gardevoir?" Gardevoir said curiously, causing Brennan to jump and almost drop the berries.

He turned around, his heart racing, and saw Gardevoir standing there.

"Jeez, Gardevoir, you scared the crap out of me." Brennan said, trying to relax.

"Voir." Gardevoir said, looking towards the ground.

"No, no, I'm not mad at you. Just... don't sneak up on my like that, okay?" Brennan said, as he took a few steps towards Gardevoir. She looked up at him and nodded.

She started looking him over, when she spotted the berries. An innocent, child-like smile formed on her face.

"Gardevoir?" She said curiously as she pointed at the box. Brennan smiled and nodded before letting out a light chuckle. He thought she was adorable.

"Yeah, I brought you some more because you've been enjoying them so much." He said. Gardevoir looked ecstatic about hearing the berries were for her.

"Gardevoir." She said happily. Brennan smiled as he extended out the box of berries to her.

"Here you go." He said. Gardevoir slowly walked towards him and took the box.

"Gardevoir. Garde." She said.

"You're welcome." Brennan replied. "Just glad I can help you out." He continued. Gardevoir nodded. She looked down at the berries before quickly pulling Brennan into a hug.

Before Brennan could do anything, Gardevoir was gone.

Brennan looked around in shock, not knowing what to say.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir watched with a slight blush on her face as she watched the trainer walk away. He made her happy. He was the first person she had had any contact with for a long time.

She looked down at the box of berries, now looking forward to getting back to her cave to eat some of them.

She started making her way back to the cave, but almost immediately, something felt off.

Gardevoir stopped and looked around. Nothing. She decided to just ignore it and get home, even though she still didn't feel right.

She had made it almost halfway home, when she heard a growl. A growl that she knew way too well. She immediately stopped and looked around.

She saw a pair of glowing eyes not even ten feet away from her. She slowly started backing away, but didn't make it far before she heard another growl behind her. She quickly shot around and saw an Ursaring standing behind her. He snickered when he saw how afraid she looked.

Gardevoir started backing up again, realizing that the Ursaring obviously wasn't alone. She looked around and saw two more besides the one in front of her.

She was trapped.

The three large Pokémon started surrounding her, licking their chops as they did.

The one Gardevoir presumed was the leader, pointed at the box of berries in her hand.

Gardevoir looked down at the box before looking back up and shaking her head. The trainer gave her those, she didn't want to give them up to a bunch of bullies.

Once she shook her head, the leading Ursaring let out a loud roar, shaking Gardevoir to her very core.

This was all way too familiar to her. This had happened before. Three Ursaring' surrounding her, wanting her food.

Gothitelle.

That one name made Gardevoir freeze. She stood there frozen, thinking about what happened the last time she saw Gothitelle. The only other thought that crossed her mind in that instance was the fact that she was about to suffer the same fate.

She was so scared and upset, she didn't even have it in her to fight back. She knew she couldn't over power all three of them. She was a goner, and she knew it.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan and his Pokémon hadn't made it too far away from the mall, when Brennan stopped walking.

He didn't know why, but for some reason, a major wave of sudden dread ran through him.

He placed his hand on his head and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down.

"Blaziken?" Blaziken asked. Brennan didn't reply.

Then, what weirded him out even more, was Gothitelle popped into his head. Why was he suddenly thinking about a Gothitelle. He had only ever seen one in his almost ten years as a trainer.

"Something's wrong." Brennan said. All of his Pokémon were now worried.

"Champ?" Machamp asked.

"I-I don't know. I-" Brennan was replying before stopping. He stood there in silence for several seconds, before going wide eyed. "Gardevoir." He continued before turning and running back towards the mall. His Pokémon quickly ran after him.

•••

•••

•••

As the three large Ursaring' surrounded Gardevoir, one of them let out a loud roar, causing her to let out a frightened whimper.

The Ursaring' were enjoying this.

Gardevoir closed her eyes tight, not wanting to see them anymore.

One of the Ursaring' bared its claws and smacked the box of berries right out of Gardevoir's hand. Gardevoir let out another frightened whimper as she continued to try and back away from them.

Even though she no longer had the berries, the Ursaring' were still not backing away from her. They didn't just want the berries, they wanted her blood.

The Ursaring' let out a sinister laugh as he raised he claws again to strike. A tear escaped Gardevoir's eye as she waited for the pain.

"Blaziken, fire punch, NOW!" A voice yelled.

Blaziken flew out of nowhere and blasted the Ursaring that was about to strike Gardevoir with a fire punch. The Ursaring flew backwards and crashed hard into a tree, snapping through it in the process.

Blaziken stood in front of Gardevoir, protecting her from the other two Ursaring'.

They both let out simultaneous roars as they got into battle stances and stared at Blaziken.

One of them was getting ready to strike, but was interrupted.

"Machamp, use dynamic punch!" Brennan exclaimed. Machamp quickly intercepted the Ursaling, and connected with a strong punch, sending him flying backwards.

The Ursaling pushed himself back onto his feet, and let out another roar. He was angry.

Machamp narrowed his eyes at him. This time, he didn't wait for Brennan's instructions. He ran and blasted the Ursaling with an even stronger dynamic punch, this time sending him flying backwards and crashing into two large trees. The Ursaling collapsed to the ground, out of it.

The last Ursaling that was left standing, never took his eyes off of Blaziken.

He was getting ready to slash at him with his claws, but a growl stopped him. The Ursaling looked over and saw Mightyena in a tail-up position, and his fangs bared.

Blaziken took advantage of the distraction and used blaze kick, kicking the Ursaling as hard as he could, sending him flying backwards and crashing hard into the first Ursaling he had taken out.

Blaziken walked over to the two downed Ursaling to make sure they were out of it. They were.

Brennan looked around at the mess, before his eyes finally landed on Gardevoir. She was leaned up against a tree, her hands covering her face. She was shaking.

"Gardevoir?" Brennan said, as he slowly approached the shaken up Pokémon.

When he got close enough, he slowly extended his hand and placed it on her arm. She quickly jerked away in fear.

"Gardevoir, it's Brennan, I'm not going to hurt you." Brennan said as he put his arms out in front of him to show her he meant no harm.

Gardevoir slowly removed her hands from her face, that's when Brennan saw she was crying.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Gardevoir wiped the tears off of her face before slowly nodding.

Gardevoir tried to calm herself down. This whole situation forced what happened to Gothitelle back into Gardevoir's mind. Sure she was scared. But she was crying because of the flashback playing over, and over again in her head.

"G-Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said in a low-toned voice.

"Of course. You're welcome." Brennan replied. Gardevoir looked past him at the Pokémon that were now staring at her.

"G-Gardevoir. Garde." She repeated. Blaziken and Machamp nodded.

Brennan glanced back at his Pokémon. He saw they were keeping their distance because they didn't want to scare Gardevoir away. But she hadn't run yet. Maybe she was warming up to them?

"Gardevoir, I know this may seem a little sudden, and you don't have to if you don't want to, but why don't you come stay with us? It's obviously not too safe out here, and maybe it would ease my worrying if I knew you were okay." Brennan said.

Gardevoir was caught off guard. He wanted her to come stay with him? And did he just say... he worries about her?

Gardevoir blushed a faint shade of pink as she bit her bottom lip.

"Like I said, I know it's kinda sudden but-" Brennan was saying before being interrupted.

"-V-Voir!" She blurted out, hiding her face in embarrassment almost immediately afterwards. "V-Voir." She repeated, this time more calm than before. Brennan smiled at her and nodded.

"Well, then it's settled then. Guys, you don't mind a guest joining us, do you?" He asked as he looked back at his Pokémon. They shook their heads. Mightyena actually looked kind of excited about it. "Cool, then lets get headed home." He continued with a smile as he looked back at Gardevoir.

Gardevoir gave a slightly nervous nod, before she started following the trainer and his Pokémon.

They made it to the clearing of the forest where Brennan would usually enter. His Pokémon exited first. Brennan was getting ready to follow suite, when he realized Gardevoir had stopped.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he looked at her.

"Gardevoir. Voir. Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied. Brennan could tell she looked scared.

His assumptions were true at least. He figured Gardevoir had probably never left the forest before.

He saw her looking around at all of the trainers' and their Pokémon as they walked past.

"Don't worry, Gardevoir, we aren't going to let anything happen to you." Brennan said as reassuring as he possibly could. He was being honest though. There is no way neither he nor his Pokémon were going to let something happen to Gardevoir after gaining her trust this much.

Brennan could see she was still nervous, so he got an idea. He slowly extended his hand out towards her.

Gardevoir looked down at it, before looking back up into his reassuring eyes.

"It'll be okay. Trust me." Brennan said softly. Gardevoir slowly nodded before grabbing hold of his hand. Brennan smiled.

Gardevoir started taking small steps out of the forest, until she was finally with the rest of the group.

"Lets go home." Brennan said, before he and his group of Pokémon started heading for home. Gardevoir stayed pretty close to him the whole way.

Sure, Brennan got some strange looks because he was walking through the city holding Gardevoir's hand, but he didn't care. Not one bit. All he cared about was making sure she wasn't scared about being around this many people.

Even after they got out of the city and onto the trail, Gardevoir still stayed pretty close to Brennan. She felt safe around him. Like what he was saying about not letting anyone hurt her was possible as long as she was with him. She believed him. She really did.


	6. Chapter 6

The walk back the the apartment had been pretty relaxing. Gardevoir had held on to Brennan the whole way there. He wasn't bothered by it. He was just glad she was starting to feel more comfortable around him and his Pokémon.

The group got to the outside of the apartment and Brennan had to break away from Gardevoir's hand to unlock the door. She didn't really like that too much.

"It's okay, Gardevoir, I'm just unlocking the door." Brennan said, trying to reassure her. Gardevoir nodded.

Brennan unlocked the door and pushed it open before stepping aside.

"Home sweet home." Brennan said, motioning for his Pokémon to enter. They did, leaving Brennan and Gardevoir standing outside. "Come on, I'll show you around." He said. Gardevoir nodded again before slowing stepping inside, looking around as she did.

Brennan followed her in and shut the door behind them.

"So... it's not much, but we make do, right guys?" Brennan said as he looked towards his Pokémon, who were already lounging around.

"Blaziken." Blaziken replied absentmindedly as he flipped the tv on, the others just nodded. Brennan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, they're...uh-unique." Brennan said with an embarrassed chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. Gardevoir looked at the group, before looking back at Brennan. He could tell she felt somewhat uncomfortable, so he knew he had to change that. "Anyway, why don't I show you around." He said.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied. Brennan smiled.

"Alright, so this is the living room. Obviously. Pretty much if you want to be lazy, this is the room to do it in. Just ask Blaziken." Brennan said.

"Blaziken..." Blaziken said, again absentmindedly.

Gardevoir stood there looking around. The one thing that caught her eyes was the tv. Of course. Brennan couldn't help but chuckle as she hovered there watching whatever cartoon the others had on.

"Yeah, trying to get the remote away from them is kinda tough, but it is possible." Brennan said, once again getting Gardevoir's attention.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir said before turning and focusing on the others. Brennan was confused by what she was doing, but she quickly made him understand.

Using her psychic engery, Gardevoir lifted the remote out of Blaziken's hand and pulled it over to her and Brennan.

"Blaziken?!" Blaziken exclaimed. Brennan broke out into laughter once Gardevoir caught the remote and went to hand it to him.

"You make it look so easy." Brennan said through laughter as he took the remote from her.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir said, a small smile creeping onto her face. She didn't really see the humor that Brennan did, but seeing him happy made it up to her.

While Brennan stood there laughing, Blaziken got up, stormed over to him, and yanked the remote out of his hand.

"Blaziken." Blaziken said, before flashing Gardevoir an annoyed glance, and making his way back over to the couch.

Brennan watched him drop back down on it, this time sitting on the remote before be did.

"Champ?!" Machamp exclaimed, as he threw his arms out. He was mad that the remote was going to smell like Blaziken butt now.

"Blaziken!" Blaziken exclaimed as he pointed at Gardevoir.

Brennan just chuckled again as he shook his head.

"How about we move on with the tour?" He said curiously, as he looked back at Gardevoir. She nodded.

Brennan motioned for her to follow, and led her into the kitchen. When they walked into the room, she started looking around.

"This is the kitchen. Uh... we aren't stacked with food... but we have enough to keep us going." Brennan said. "Plates, cups, and bowls are in the cabinets. Canned stuff is in the pantry over there. And whatever we have that needs to stay frozen is obviously in the fridge and freezer." He explained, as he watched Gardevoir observantly walk around the kitchen.

She pulled open one of the cabinets and looked at the stack of plates and lines of cups and bowls. She wasn't so far away from standard living that she didn't know what they were, she had just never used any herself before.

She carefully closed the cabinet back and continued looking around at everything. Brennan stood in the doorway watching, not wanting to interrupt her. He was going to give her as much time as she needed to get used to everything.

"Gardevoir?" Gardevoir asked as she pointed to a door in the back of the room.

"Oh, that's the laundry room... Or uh... laundry closet." Brennan replied as he walked past her and opened the set of sliding doors, revealing a set of white washer and dryers, along with some laundry soap and an ironing board Brennan had never even used. "Nothing too special, but hey, they wash my clothes." He continued as he shrugged. Gardevoir nodded in understandment.

Brennan pushed the white sliding doors closed, before walking back to the doorway of the kitchen. He turned back around to face Gardevoir.

"Wanna continue the tour?" He asked. Gardevoir nodded before following him out of the kitchen.

Brennan led her back through the living room, before taking her down the small hallway that connected the rest of the rooms.

"Okay, this room right her is Sandslash and Roserade's room." Brennan said as he pointed towards the first door on the right. "It's pretty small, so that's why they took it." He explained. Gardevoir nodded. "And the room right here is the bathroom." He said as he pushed the door open, revealing his somewhat small bathroom.

"Gardevoir?" Gardevoir asked. Brennan flipped the light on so she could see in the small room better.

"Yeah, it has a shower, a sink, and a toilet. The usual things you'd expect a standard bathroom of any kind to have." He replied. "You're welcome to use it whenever you need to." He said, wanting to make sure she knew she didn't have to ask permission. Gardevoir nodded again, something she had grown used to doing on this 'tour.'

After Brennan felt Gardevoir saw everything she needed to in the bathroom, he flipped the light off and led her the rest of the way down the small hallway to the back bedroom.

"And this is the master bedroom, or what my landlord calls the master bedroom." Brennan explained as he opened the door. "It's my room." He continued as he walked into the room. Gardevoir followed. "I guess it's Mightyena's room too, seeing as how he sleeps in here." He continued.

Gardevoir listened to him as she looked around the small room. She looked at his bed, and the first thing that came to her mind was "Comfy."

Brennan stood still, watching her as she slowly made her way around the room. Just like before, she was trying to take everything in, and the last thing he wanted to do was rush her and make her feel more uncomfortable than she probably already did.

"So... that pretty much everything. You can just go ahead and make yourself at home... uh- if you want to." Brennan said, before letting out a slight chuckle. Gardevoir turned to him, a smile on her face.

"Gardevoir." She said happily. Brennan couldn't help but give her a slight smile. She was obviously happy, so that was good. "Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde?" She asked.

She wanted to test out "The Shower", as Brennan called it. She needed the bathe.

When Gardevoir realized Brennan was a little confused by what she had asked, she floated past him and out into the hallway, where she stopped by the bathroom.

"Gardevoir?" She asked, as she pointed into the room.

"Ohhhh, the bathroom." Brennan replied, a slightly embarrassed chuckle escaping him. "Yeah, you can use it." He continued.

"Gardevoir. Garde?" Gardevoir asked. Brennan realized she probably needed help figuring something out, so he finally joined her out in the hallway.

"Sure, what's up?" He asked. Gardevoir walked into the room and pointed at the shower. "You need help turning it on?" He asked. Gardevoir nodded. "Sure, no problem." He replied as he walked into the room, flicking the light on as he did, and made his way over to the bathtub. "Alright, so here's how to get it working. The handle with the red circle on it is the hot water, the one with the blue circle on it is the cold water, and the one in the middle is to turn the shower on. To get the water to your preferred liking, you just have to mess around with it a little bit." He explained, as he showed her how to use the faucet.

He turned the water on for her, before stepping out of the way to let her mess around with it.

Gardevoir looked at him, not sure of what to do. Brennan smiled and gave her a single nod, telling her to try it.

Gardevoir understood Brennan's nod, and grabbed the knob with the red circle on it and twisted it. She slowly stuck her hand under the water that was pouring out of the faucet, quickly realizing just how hot it was.

She pulled her hand back before grabbing and twisting the knob with the blue circle on it. After, she stuck her hand back under the running water, where the perfect temperature of water was coming out. She smiled, before looking back at Brennan.

"Now, if the water is the way you want it, twist the knob in the middle to turn the shower on." Brennan explained. Gardevoir nodded, before grabbing the knob in the middle and twisting it. She was somewhat caught off guard when the water started raining down. She backed up out of the shower, as the water fell down into the tub. Brennan couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Voir." Gardevoir replied, as she nodded.

"So, if you have everything the way you want it, that's pretty much it. The towel on that rack behind is clean, but if you need another one, there are some in the cabinet under the sink." Brennan said, before pointing to the sink. "Now um... can you remove your dress?! N-not like that... I m-mean do you shower naked?! W-what I'm trying to s-say is... If its possible... I c-c-can wash your dress for you." He said, stammering over his words in an uncomfortable embarrassment. He could tell that Gardevoir was slightly embarrassed by the situation too.

"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, slightly blushing and looking down at her dress as she did. He figured that she meant she didn't have any other clothes.

"I-if you want me t-to wash it... I-I can find you something else to wear in the m-mean time." Brennan said. At this point, he was wanting to get out of there as fast as he could, to hopefully prevent embarrassing himself further. "J-just let me know." He said, before turning to quickly exit the bathroom.

He had somehow forgotten that he had left the door open, so he ended up running into it. He grabbed his forehead and stumbled backwards.

"Gardevoir?!" Gardevoir asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm good." Brennan replied with a smile as he looked back at her. He quickly turned around to exit again, but once again ended up running into the door.

"Voir?!" Gardevoir asked.

"Yeah, p-pesky door." Brennan said, before letting out an embarrassed chuckle. He was trying his best to play it off. Again, he tried to exit, and this time, ended up doing so. "I-if you need anything just holler." He said, before finally pulling the door closed.

After he was safely back in the hallway, he leaned up against the door, covered his face with his hands, and sighed. Now he felt like a perverted idiot.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir had stood there and watched him leave. After he was gone, she looked down at herself. She knew her dress probably did need to be washed, it hadn't been as white as it should have been in a long time.

She grabbed the shoulders of her dress and started sliding it down her body until it finally dropped to the floor. She was now standing in the trainer she had just met a week ago's bathroom completely naked.

She bent down and picked the dress up off of the floor, before folding it up, and setting it down on the toilet.

She was about to step into the shower, when she noticed her reflection in the mirror. She slowly walked over to it, and started looking herself over.

She was very petite. A whole lot more thin than a regular women. But, she also had breasts like a regular women. That's something no other Gardevoir had.

She saw the same reflection of herself that she saw in the lake. A reflection that she wasn't all too proud of.

She ran her three-fingered hands down her slender body, making sure she felt over all of her curves.

She just... didn't see beauty in herself.

Tall, slender, pale, green hair, a red spike protruding through her body, three fingers stumps for feet... what did she have to feel beautiful about?

She shook her head, wanting to push this negative attitude against herself to the back of her mind. She wanted to take a shower. Maybe she would feel better afterwards.

She stepped into the shower, and almost immediately let a soft moan escape her lips. The warm water running down her body was the best feeling she had felt in a long time. It was amazing.

She just stood there for several minutes, letting the water soak her. Relax her.

All the negative thoughts she had previously had on her mind had subsequently been forgotten.

•••

•••

•••

After Gardevoir's shower, she had dried herself and found Brennan. She wanted him to wash her dress for her.

Luckily he was in his room, so the others didn't see her walking around wrapped in nothing but a towel.

After Brennan got over his mad blushing, he took Gardevoir's dress and threw it in the washer for her.

Gardevoir sat on Brennan's bed, waiting for him to come back with something she could wear in the mean time.

"I don't have anything quite your size, but you can wear these. They'll keep you covered until your dress is clean." Brennan said as he walked back into the room and tossed Gardevoir a large shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.

Brennan left the room as she got dressed.

Gardevoir slipped into the clothes she had been given. The shirt was almost like a dress on her anyways, it went down to just above her knees. She slipped into the shorts next, but couldn't get them to stay up.

"Voir." Gardevoir called. After she did, Brennan walked back into the room. He saw she was having trouble keeping the shorts up.

He walked over to her and grabbed the white strings hanging down from them and pulled them tight, before tying them together.

"How's that?" He asked, observing the newly dressed Gardevoir.

Gardevoir looked down at herself, before slightly wiggling just to see if the shorts would stay up, they did.

"Good." Brennan said with a smile. Gardevoir smiled back and nodded.

"Gardevoir." She said, happily.

"Your dress is in the washer, it probably won't be ready for awhile." Brennan said. Gardevoir didn't really mind that, the clothes he had given her were actually pretty comfortable. "So, now if you want we can go-" he had continued, but was cut off when Gardevoir quickly moved forward and wrapped her arms around him, catching him off guard.

"Gardevoir. Garde." She said in an almost inaudible tone. She was thankful. She truly was. Brennan slowly lifted his arms around her and patted her back.

"You're welcome." He said, ignoring the fact that Gardevoir's chest spike was digging into his skin.

Gardevoir pulled away from the hug, a small blush had formed on her face, one that thankfully Brennan hadn't noticed.

"So... wanna go watch tv with the others?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir nodded. "Cool, I'll let you pick what we watch." He said with a smile. Gardevoir smiled back, before the two headed towards the living room.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir was still somewhat uncomfortable around the others. They didn't seem to mind her, though.

Brennan and Gardevoir had joined them in the living room, forcing Blaziken to have to sit up so they could sit down on the couch. He wasn't too thrilled about that. He was even less thrilled when Brennan told him to fork over the remote, but he obliged.

Brennan handed Gardevoir the remote and showed her how to use it.

Gardevoir started slowing surfing through the channels, getting used to using the remote as she did.

She eventually stopped on some sort of fashion show. She was sitting there watching it, mesmerized by it. The others weren't too into the show, however.

Gardevoir sat there watching, as beautiful lady after beautiful lady walked down the catwalk. Those are the women she dreamed about looking like. They were perfect.

A beautiful, tall, thin blonde woman was next on the catwalk. She wore a very tight to the body strapless silk red dress that dropped down just below her knees, and had her flowing blonde hair running like a waterfall about halfway down her back.

Brennan took a glance at Gardevoir and saw she was now somehow more invested in the show than she had been previously.

The model got to the end of the catwalk, did a few poses, and turned to walk back up it. After she had made it to the back, all of the other models made their way back down the catwalk one last time, together and then the show ended, to Gardevoir's disappointment.

"Gardevoir?" She said somewhat saddened by this.

"It's over, Gardevoir. Maybe they'll be another one on." Brennan said. Blaziken groaned, getting Brennan to give him the stink eye. Blaziken gave him an annoyed look, before crossing his arms.

Even though they dealt with Blaziken's annoyed moans and groans the whole time, the group just ended up hanging around the apartment watching tv all day.

Brennan made hot dogs for dinner. Nothing too fancy, but it worked.

And it was pretty funny seeing Gardevoir's reaction to them, considering she had never eaten one before.

And soon it came time for him to shut down for the night.

Gardevoir lay back against the couch, she let out the most adorable yawn Brennan had ever heard.

"Are you tired?" He asked. Gardevoir looked at him and nodded.

"Voir." She replied.

Brennan stood up, before stretching and yawning.

"Alright, follow me." He said. Gardevoir stood and followed him into his room.

Brennan flicked the light on before looking at his bed.

"Okay, we're kinda tight on sleeping space, so you and Mightyena can take my bed, and I have a sleeping bag I can use on the floor." Brennan said, before walking to his closet for his sleeping bag.

Brennan had a queen sized bed, so him, Gardevoir, and Mightyena could have all slept on it, and Gardevoir took notice.

"Gardevoir." She said, getting Brennan's attention.

"What's wrong?" Brennan asked, as he turned around.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, as she pointed to the bed. "Gardevoir. Garde." She continued, as she pointed at Brennan's sleeping bag and shaking her head.

Brennan quickly realized what she meant, he slightly blushed, but managed to keep it under control.

"I just suggested what I did because its your first night here and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable by suggesting we sleep in the same bed." Brennan explained.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Voir." Gardevoir said.

Gardevoir wasn't going to let Brennan sleep on the floor instead of in his own bed just because he's worried about her feeling uncomfortable. Not that she was.

She already realized the bed was big enough for them both. So they were both going to sleep in it.

"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, once again pointing at the bed.

"Are you sure you're alright with us both sleeping in the same bed?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir nodded. "Alright then. I'm going to go hop in the shower real quick. You can get comfortable if you want." He continued, before heading out of the room, leaving Gardevoir alone.

Gardevoir looked around the room before walking towards the bed and climbing into it. She crawled to the middle and sat down, once again looking around the room.

For the first time in her entire life, she was about to find out what it was like to sleep inside of an actual apartment, in an actual bed. She couldn't believe it.

After finally being able to take everything in, she crawled over to the far side of the bed and pulled the covers back. She slid her legs underneath them and sat there. It was pretty comfortable.

She was getting ready to lay down, when Mightyena walked into the room and jumped up onto the bed. Both he and Gardevoir made eye contact.

Mightyena slowly approached Gardevoir, before taking in her scent. Gardevoir sat there watching him, wondering what he was going to do.

After Mightyena took in her scent, he rubbed his head up against her arm. Gardevoir was somewhat surprised by this.

A small smile crossed her face as she started rubbing him. He seemed to be getting enjoyment out of it, because his tail started wagging. Gardevoir giggled when she noticed.

Gardevoir had seen her fair share of wild Mightyena during her years out in the wild, but none of them were as friendly as this one.

"I see you two are getting aquatinted." A voice said, getting the two Pokémon's attention.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir said with a smile, as she continued to rub Mightyena's head.

Brennan had been leaned up against the doorway watching. He was now washed up and wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt with the Pokémon Center logo on it.

"You ready for bed too, Mightyena?" Brennan asked. Mightyena replied with a somewhat joyful purr, as Gardevoir continued to rub his head. "You keep that up for too long, he won't let you stop." He continued jokingly, looking at Gardevoir as he did.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied.

Brennan flipped the light off and walked over to the bed, before climbing into it.

He heard Mightyena let out a disappointed whine, meaning Gardevoir had probably stopped rubbing him.

Once Brennan was settled, he felt the bed shift towards his feet and figured Mightyena was probably trying to get comfortable.

Gardevoir had finally laid back, too, and she had never been so comfortable in her entire life.

Once everything went still and quiet, Brennan spoke up.

"You good, Gardevoir?" He asked. He didn't get a response. "Gardevoir?" He said again, looking over as he did. He could just make out Gardevoir and her sleeping form as he did. He smiled. "Goodnight, Gardevoir." He said quietly, before closing his own eyes and drifting off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning came, and Brennan was the first to wake up. He tiredly managed to open his stuck together eyelids, the bad taste of morning breath taking over mouth.

He sat up, yawned, and stretched, before looking over at Gardevoir. She was still sound asleep. The almost inaudible sound of her slow breaths could be heard in the silence of the room. A small smile formed on Brennan's face.

He slid out from under the covers and threw his legs off the side of the bed, before standing and stretching.

He headed out of the room to make himself some coffee, prompting to let Gardevoir sleep. He figured this was the most comfortable sleep she's ever had before.

He walked down the hallway and headed into the living room and, of course, Blaziken and Machamp were still sleeping.

All's considered, Brennan had always considered himself an early bird compared to his Pokémon. Most of the time at least.

He shrugged it off, before heading into the kitchen to start his coffee.

After he got his coffee going, he remembered that he had washed Gardevoir's dress the previous night and hung it up to air dry.

He walked over to the sliding doors to his "laundry room" and pulled them open. Gardevoir's dress hung on the small rack just to the side of the dryer.

He gently grabbed ahold of the soft fabric to see if it had dried overnight. For the most part, it was dry. But he figured he'd leave it in there just a little longer just to be safe.

He closed the doors back and turned back around towards his coffee pot. The smell of the brewing coffee made his mouth water. He was REALLY looking forward to it.

He walked over to the fridge and opened it to see if he had any eggs left.

He figured Gardevoir deserved a good breakfast her first morning here. He grabbed the carton and opened it up and saw he only had two eggs left. He sighed.

Looks like he was going to need to run into the city to pick up a few groceries.

He closed the fridge door and looked at the two eggs in his hand. Just because he wasn't going to have a good breakfast, didn't mean Gardevoir wasn't going to.

He grabbed a skillet out of his cabinet, cracked open the eggs, and started breakfast.

He didn't know what he was going to make to go with them, but he was going to make something.

After he got the eggs started, he looked around the kitchen trying to find something else to go with the eggs.

He saw his loaf of bread, and decided toast would go well with them.

He grabbed the bread, and again, saw he was almost out of it.

"Crap..." He muttered to himself, as he stared at his remaining four pieces of bread.

He somehow hadn't even realized he was so low on food. Usually he was on top of that. Guess it must have slipped his mind with how much of it had been focused solely on Gardevoir lately.

"Eggs and toast it is." Brennan said to himself, as he opened up the bag with the bread in it, pulled two pieces out, and dropped them into the toaster.

He didn't mind eating a bowl of cereal, it's not like it was anything new. Blaziken may not enjoy it too much, but he'll have to make due.

It didn't take long for the toast to pop back up. Brennan grabbed it and threw it on a plate, before heading back over to his freshly made coffee and pouring himself a glass.

He walked back over to the eggs, taking a sip of his nice, hot coffee, savoring the flavor, and the burn that went along with it, as he did.

He flipped the eggs, watching them cook as he did. He was really hoping Gardevoir would enjoy this.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir slowly opened her eyes, before sitting up in the bed. She rubbed her tired eyes before looking around the dark room.

She had somehow managed to have forgotten that she stayed in an actual apartment the night before. She was so used to waking up in a cave every morning, that this was just completely new to her.

She looked over at the now vacant spot on the bed where Brennan had been sleeping. She figured he must have already gotten up.

She pushed the covers off of herself, before crawling to the edge of the bed, doing her best not to wake up the still sleeping Mightyena as she did.

Once she got to the edge, she climbed off of the bed, stretched, and let out a little yawn.

For the first time in forever, she didn't wake up feeling sore or still tired. She was one hundred percent rested.

Sleeping in an actual bed the previous night was the most comfortable she had ever been, and the clothes she had on were quite comfortable too.

Gardevoir quietly exited the bedroom, before heading down the hallway. She walked into the living room and saw Blaziken and Machamp still sound asleep. She let out a light giggle, before heading towards the kitchen.

She slowly walked into the kitchen, and saw Brennan standing by the oven. She figured he must have been cooking something.

She stood there watching for several seconds, before she finally spoke up.

"Gardevoir. Garde?" Gardevoir asked, curiously. Brennan turned around, flashing her a smile as he did.

"Oh, good morning, Gardevoir." He said. "Did you sleep okay?" He asked. Gardevoir nodded.

"Voir." She replied.

"That's good. You were out pretty fast. I'm just glad you were comfortable." Brennan said. This got Gardevoir to smile. "Oh, I'm making you breakfast. Eggs and toast, hope that's okay." He continued, as he turned back to the eggs. "They're almost done if you want to take a seat." He said.

Eggs and toast? Gardevoir had never tried either. So this was going to be new. Just like eating corn dogs was the previous night.

Gardevoir gingerly made her way over to the kitchen table, before pulling a chair out and sitting down.

She sat in silence as she watched Brennan fiddle around over by the stove.

Brennan was actually cooking her breakfast. She had just met him a couple of weeks ago, and she was now staying in his apartment, and he was cooking for her.

This got Gardevoir thinking, how much did he care for her?

She thought he was kinda cute actually...

The thought of that made Gardevoir blush. Did she really think that?

Brennan turned around and walked over to the table, carrying a plate with eggs and toast on it in one hand, and his mug of coffee in the other.

"And breakfast is served." Brennan said with a smile, as he sat the plate down in front of her.

Gardevoir examined the items that were on the plate. They certainly smelled good, she knew that right off of the bat.

Brennan sat down in the chair across from her and sipped on his coffee, as he watched her struggle to lift the fork up.

He knew only having three fingers on each hand probably made things that were simple to do for a human, a hundred times more difficult for her.

"You got it?" Brennan asked, he could tell Gardevoir was starting to grow frustrated with it. He wanted to chuckle, but managed to hold it in.

"V-voir." Gardevoir replied, as she continued to try and lift the fork up.

Brennan didn't push anymore, and continued to sit there watching, until she finally did it.

"Voir! Gardevoir! Gardevoir!" Gardevoir exclaimed excitedly, as she held onto the fork. Brennan laughed. She was adorable.

Watching her was like watching a toddler learn how to eat with silverware, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Congratulations, Gardevoir." Brennan said, a smile prominent on his face.

Gardevoir smiled back, before looking down at the food on her plate. She was excited to see what they tasted like. She knew she would enjoy them if they tasted as good as they smelled, which she was hoping they would.

"They're good, trust me." Brennan said, after watching her for several seconds trying decide which one she wanted to try first. Gardevoir looked up at him, she trusted him.

She looked back down at her plate, before digging her fork into one of the eggs and pulling a small piece off. She looked down at the now disattached piece, before pulling it up to her mouth.

Brennan sat there waiting for her thoughts on it, as she chewed on the small piece and swallowed it.

"Voir!" She exclaimed happily. Brennan chuckled.

"Good, right?" He asked. Gardevoir repeatedly nodded, before digging her fork back into the egg and pulling off another piece.

Brennan sat there and sipped his coffee as he watched Gardevoir eat. It wasn't for another several minutes that more of his Pokémon decided to join them.

"Blaziken." Blaziken said tiredly, as he walked in stretching, before yawning.

He went straight towards the fridge and pulled it open. Brennan knew what he was looking for.

"Sorry, Blaziken, we're out of eggs." Brennan said. Blaziken quickly looked up from the fridge, before noticing Gardevoir eating eggs.

"Blaziken! Blaziken?!" Blaziken exclaimed, as he motioned towards Gardevoir. Gardevoir stopped enjoying her breakfast and looked at him.

"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, pushing the plate towards him. Brennan quickly shook his head, before pushing the plate back towards her.

"No. Eat. Enjoy your breakfast. He can do without eggs for a day." Brennan said. Gardevoir looked at him, before looking back at the now annoyed Blaziken. "You eat eggs all the time, this is her first morning here. You can eat cereal today." He said, turning his attention to Blaziken.

"Blaziken. Blaziken." Blaziken complained, as he pulled the box of Frosted Poké Flakes off the top of the fridge. "Blaziken." He continued.

"Yeah, I know those aren't your favorites. I'll get you some Fruity Poké Pebbles at the store today if you stop complaining." Brennan said. Blaziken frowned as he looked at the box of cereal in his hands.

"Blaze. Blaziken. Blaziken." Blaziken muttered to himself as he grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet.

Gardevoir had now slowed down eating. She felt like she had done something wrong. Blaziken lived here, why should she get the rest of the eggs when she had only been there one night?

As Brennan sat there, he started feeling guilty. It was weird. It reminded him of how he started feeling dread out of the blue the previous day. That's when he looked back at Gardevoir and saw her staring down at the plate.

"What's wrong, Gardevoir?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir looked up at him.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied, as she looked from the eggs, over to Blaziken, who was annoyingly pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

Brennan caught on to what she meant.

"Gardevoir, ignore him. He'll be fine one day without eggs. Isn't that right, Blaziken?" Brennan said loudly, and seriously.

"Blaziken. Blaziken." Blaziken replied in annoyance.

"See, he's fine. Enjoy your breakfast. You deserve it." Brennan said, turning his attention back to Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir?" Gardevoir said curiously. Brennan nodded.

"Really. Enjoy it." He said. The sudden feeling of guilt instantly vanished from Brennan's mind, once Gardevoir smiled.

It was weird. It was almost like he could feel what she was feeling.

Dread the previous day when the group of Ursaring' attacked her, and guilt just now when Blaziken started acting up about her getting the last couple eggs.

As Gardevoir continued eating, Brennan couldn't help but sit there and wonder just exactly what was going on.

After Blaziken angrily finished eating his bowl of cereal and left the kitchen, and Gardevoir had finished her breakfast, her and Brennan sat at the table in silence.

Brennan was now on his second cup of coffee, and he was slowly sipping on it.

"Oh, I washed your dress last night. It's hanging up so it'll dry. Should be about dry by now." Brennan said, causing Gardevoir to smile.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Voir." Gardevoir said, happily.

Brennan smiled at her, before standing up and walking to the closet were Gardevoir's dress was currently hanging. He opened it up, and once again felt the soft cloth of the dress, only this time, it was one hundred percent dry.

Brennan grabbed the dress and pulled it out of the closet to show Gardevoir. It was actually a nice, beautifully clean white like it was supposed to be.

"Ta da." Brennan said, as he showed Gardevoir her now clean dress.

Gardevoir got up from the table and made her way over to the dress, before grabbing it and admiring how clean it was.

"Gardevoir!" She cried happily. Brennan chuckled.

As happy as Gardevoir was that her dress was now clean, she was a little upset that she was going to have to get out of her comfy sleeping ensemble from the previous night.

"You can go change if you want, I'm going to head into the city to grab some groceries. You're welcome to come with if you want." Brennan said, as he handed Gardevoir the dress.

Gardevoir honestly didn't want to go back into the city, at least not right now. She felt very uncomfortable with the way all of the trainers' and other Pokemon were staring at her.

She knew she had Brennan and his Pokémon to protect her if something happened, and she believed Brennan when he told he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Gardevoir followed Brennan down the hallway and into his bedroom, as she thought.

Brennan gathered some clean clothes before heading into the bathroom, leaving Gardevoir alone in the room.

She walked over to the door and looked down the hallway to make sure all of the others were distracted. They were. Once she saw they were distracted, she closed the bedroom door.

Once the door was closed, Gardevoir walked back over to the bed, where her dress was currently laying. She started stripping out of her night clothes, not taking her eyes off of the dress as she did.

After stripping out of the t-shirt and the baggy basketball shorts, she stood in the bedroom completely bare of clothes. She was getting ready to put the dress on, when she looked down at her body.

She started feeling the same way she did the previous day in the bathroom. She didn't think she was beautiful, and she honestly didn't think anyone else would either.

She obviously wasn't anything compared to human women, and she knew that. She couldn't compare. No way. Or at least, that's how she saw it.

Gardevoir shook off the negative thoughts, before grabbing her dress and sliding into it.

It was not only cleaner and smelled like a spring meadow, it felt a whole lot more comfortable to wear too.

Gardevoir did a quick twirl, before looking down at her now clean dress.

As she stood there looking down, there was a knock on the door.

"Gardevoir, you decent?" Brennan called.

"Voir." Gardevoir replied. Brennan waited a few seconds after the response, before opening the door. He stopped and smiled when he saw Gardevoir standing there in her freshly washed dressed.

"Wow, you look great, Gardevoir." Brennan said. Gardevoir blushed at the compliment.

Brennan walked over to his dresser and grabbed his backpack and his cap, before looking back at her.

"You want to run with me?" He asked. Gardevoir thought about it a minute, before finally shaking her head.

She honestly would have loved to go with him, she just didn't feel comfortable around all those other people, at least not yet.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied, sadly. Brennan walked up to her, before patting her on the shoulder.

"It's no big deal. Stay here and relax. I'm just going to get some groceries anyways." Brennan said.

"Gardevoir?" Gardevoir asked.

"Yeah, it's okay." Brennan replied with a smile. This made Gardevoir relax a little. She smiled and nodded back.

After, Brennan headed into the living room, with Gardevoir behind him. The others were already all sitting around the tv, lazily watching something none of them were even paying attention to.

"Machamp, Mightyena, do you two want to make a run into the city with me?" Brennan asked. Mightyena instantly jumped to the feet, tail wagging and tongue hanging out. Brennan chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes from you." He said, as he gave Mightyena a pat on the head. "What about you, Champ?" He asked.

"Champ." Machamp replied, before lowering the footrest of his recliner and climbing to his feet.

"Cool. Blaziken, you're in charge. Don't act up, and this goes for all of you, I don't want ANY of you leaving the apartment, got it?" Brennan said, sternly.

"Blaziken." Blaziken replied. Sandslash and Roserade nodded. Brennan then turned around to face Gardevoir.

She may not have technically been his Pokemon, but he still didn't want anything to happen to her.

"You okay with staying here with them and watching tv or something until I get back?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir nodded.

"Voir." She replied.

"Cool." Brennan said. "We shouldn't be gone any longer than an hour." He continued. "You two ready?" He asked, looking at his two ''helpers'' for today's mission into the city.

Both Machamp and Mightyena nodded.

"Alright, let's get going." Brennan said, before heading towards the door.

"Voir!" Gardevoir called, before running and stopping in front of Brennan.

"What's wrong, Gardevoir?" Brennan asked.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied.

With how worried Gardevoir looked when she said that, Brennan figured he knew what she said.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry. These two aren't going to let anything happen, right guys?" Brennan said curiously, as he looked back at the two Pokemon joining him on his trip.

"Champ." Machamp replied, as he nodded. Mightyena nodded, too.

"See, you don't have anything to worry about." Brennan said, as he turned his attention back to Gardevoir.

Gardevoir was unsure, she didn't want to see anything happen to Brennan. It was just a simple trip into the city, something she figured he had done a million times, but still, anything could happen, and she knew that.

Even though she was still worried, she reluctantly nodded anyways.

She saw the previous day how strong Machamp was, and she figured Mightyena was just as strong and protective of his trainer.

"We'll be back, okay?" Brennan said, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Voir." Gardevoir replied, before stepping out of Brennan's way.

"Alright, now lets get going." Brennan said, before he and his small group once again headed for the door.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken called, as Brennan exited the apartment.

"I won't forget your Fruity Poké Pebbles." Brennan replied, not turning around as he replied.

"Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken said, as Brennan closed the door behind him.

Gardevoir stood there staring at the door, before looking over at the other three Pokemon, who remained lazily strewn about the living room.

She gingerly made her way over to the recliner that Machamp had been sitting in. The large sinkhole he had created in the cushion from how much he had sat in it, made Gardevoir sink further into the chair than she had wanted.

She looked at the couch and saw Blaziken was spread out on it, and she knew he wasn't going to be moving any time soon, especially not for her, so she just dealt with Machamp's chair.

Now she played the waiting game. Waiting for Brennan to return.

She hated the waiting game...


	8. Chapter 8

Brennan's walk into the city was just about as eventful as it usually was. He and his Pokemon remained silent most of the trip, none of them really having anything to say.

As they walked, Brennan did think about something, though. He still couldn't get over the fact that he somehow managed to feel Gardevoir's emotions. It was strange.

He knew she was a psychic type, but he had only known her just over a week, and she technically wasn't even his Pokemon, so how was he able to feel her emotions?

All he knew was it was definitely something he wanted to find out more about.

Brennan pushed his thoughts away for now, once he saw the city in the distance.

Slateport City. A city that was always packed with trainers' and their Pokémon. Some lived in the city, or just outside of it like himself, or some were on a journey, constantly traveling around to see new things, just like he and his Pokémon had previously been on.

Once the small group made it off of the trail and into the city, they headed straight towards the small supermarket that Brennan frequented for his shopping. It may not have been the nicest store in the city, but they sure did have the best prices.

And another nice thing about this particular supermarket was Brennan could have more than just one of his Pokémon out with him.

Brennan headed in, grabbed a cart, and headed towards the dairy products.

"Okay, Machamp, we need a loaf of bread and two cartons of eggs. Do you think you can get them and bring them back without crushing them this time?" Brennan asked, as he stopped and faced the four armed Pokémon.

"Champ." Machamp replied, as he nodded.

"Okay, I'm counting on you." Brennan said. Machamp nodded again, before heading off to get the items he was told to get.

"Mightyena, you can stay with me buddy." Brennan said, as he looked down at his other Pokémon, before patting him on the head. Mightyena's tail wagged happily as he did. Brennan got a small chuckle out of that. "Now, while Machamp is busy getting what he needs to get, we need to get a gallon of milk." He said, as he and Mightyena continued on their way to the dairy section.

•••

•••

•••

Machamp had made it to the bread section and grabbed a loaf. He grabbed the one he thought Brennan usually bought. He remembered the small baker guy with a rolling pin in his hand on the front of the bag next to the logo.

After he had the bread, he headed over to where the eggs were. Once he got there, he stood there looking through their surprising large selection, when someone got his attention.

"Look! Mommy, that Pokémon is shopping!" A little girl, no older than five, exclaimed, before letting out a giggle. Machamp looked over and saw the little girl staring at him, he gave her a polite smile and a wave with his upper left hand.

The mother of the little girl turned to him and looked him up and down.

"Now what kind of trainer lets their Pokémon wander around by themselves?" The mother asked in a snobby tone, before grabbing the cart her little girl was in and pushing it away. Machamp frowned.

Boy if he could speak English, there was definitely a few things he wanted to tell that women. He shook his head, before going back to what he had previously been doing.

Brennan wasn't a bad trainer, and Machamp didn't like when someone said something along the lines to make it seem like he was. It annoyed him.

Machamp finally found the eggs that Brennan had tasked him to get and grabbed two cartons like he was told. After he had the eggs and the bread, he headed over to the dairy section to hopefully find Brennan.

He had to be careful though, he was carrying some of the most fragile groceries you can buy, so he honestly didn't know why Brennan sent him to get those things in particular after what happened last time they went shopping.

After crushing four loafs of bread, and breaking eight cartons of eggs, Brennan finally realized that maybe he shouldn't task Machamp with getting those kinds of items, yet, here he was, again getting eggs and bread.

He was actually doing quite well, though. He kind of surprised himself.

He started to grow very relieved when he saw Brennan and Mightyena in the distance.

"Okay, Mightyena, cheese, milk, and yogurt, check. Next we need some lettuce." Brennan said, as he looked down at Mightyena.

He looked back up just in time to see Machamp approaching them with the eggs and bread. Brennan was relieved that he actually managed to get them in one trip this time.

Brennan sighed in relief as Machamp closed in on them.

"Good job, Machamp, one trip, that's a new record." Brennan said, a relieved smile on his face.

"Champ. Champ. Cha-aaammmmp!" Machamp was replying, before he tripped over a Treecko that was walking by.

Machamp fell to the floor, landing on the bread, flattening it in the process, and sent both cartons of eggs flying across the store and breaking open all over the floor, just a few feet away from Brennan.

Machamp pushed himself to his knees, as he listened to the angry Treecko berate him over not watching where he was going.

Brennan looked at the mess in front of him, before sighing and rubbing his face with his hands.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir, Blaziken, Roserade, and Sandslash were all still sitting around in the living room watching tv.

None of them had said anything since Brennan left. It was pure silence except for the tv.

Gardevoir didn't know what they were even watching. It was some sort of cartoon about a talking baby and his Pichu getting in some sort of predicament. They were already on their third episode since Brennan left.

Gardevoir wasn't even really paying attention to the show. She wanted to watch more of the models that she saw yesterday, but she didn't dare ask Blaziken for the remote.

She just didn't feel like he liked her too much.

He lay in the same sprawled out position on the couch with the remote resting on his stomach, as he stared at the tv.

Gardevoir glanced over at him, before quickly turning her gaze away. She didn't want him to catch her staring at him, who knew what kind of problems that would cause.

To Gardevoir, it honestly seemed like hours had passed already that Brennan had been gone. She just felt plain awkward sitting there without him.

He made her feel welcomed. It was quite comforting, especially considering how much had changed for her in the last day.

She wanted him to come back already.

Her mind started wondering if he was going to come back, but she quickly shook off that ridiculous question. Of course he's coming back, there's no reason why he wouldn't be.

Gardevoir slumped down into the chair and continued to stare at the tv. She needed to relax. She was worrying herself way too much.

Brennan would be back, she knew he would be, she could sense it.

•••

•••

•••

After Brennan helped a young worker at the store clean up the mess and made Machamp apologize to the young girl and her Treecko that he tripped over, Brennan finished gathering the rest of his groceries as quickly as he possibly could.

He wasn't mad at Machamp for what he had done, it was an accident and he knew that, it was just... something he didn't plan on happening.

As Brennan, Machamp, and Mightyena stood in line at the register, Brennan realized he had forgotten to grab Blaziken's cereal.

"Crap." He said quietly, getting Mightyena's attention. Machamp was too busy reading a magazine he had picked up to even notice Brennan had said anything. "I forgot to get Blaziken's cereal." He said, looking down at his curious looking Pokémon. "You two stay here, I have to go back and grab it. Dealing with a moody Blaziken is not something I want to do today." He said, before quickly walking off towards the cereal, leaving Machamp and Mightyena standing in line with the cart.

Mightyena looked up at Machamp, who was still immersed in his magazine.

Pokésports Illustrated, it was one of Machamp's favorite magazines and one of the main things he would look forward to when they went shopping.

Bored, Mightyena decided to look around to see what he could see. He started looking around, eyes landing on everything they could as he did.

As his eyes traveled the store, he spotted a display full of fudge-chocolate chip cookies. The mascot of the cookie brand a giant cartoon version of the cookie it was trying to sell, complete with arms, legs, eyes, and a large smile on his face, stood proudly on top of the large display.

Mightyena's pupils turned into hearts, as he was lifted up off of the ground and floated over to the display.

Once he was at the display, he stared up at the cookies, enamored by them.

Brennan wouldn't let him eat chocolate, which he was annoyed by. The one time he did get to taste it though, it made him sicker than he had ever been before. But still, it was delicious.

Mightyena finally broke out of his trance and returned to the floor. He needed to get some of those cookies.

He looked around to make sure no one was watching him, before looking back up at the display.

He knew if he stood up on his hind legs he could get a pack of them. Once he realized that, he started drooling at the thought of tasting the sweet sweet chocolate once again.

Brennan may not be happy with him about it, but it was going to be worth it.

Brennan finally found Blaziken's cereal and quickly returned to his cart. Once he got back, the first thing he noticed was the lack of Mightyena.

"Hey, Machamp, where's Mightyena?" Brennan asked.

"Champ." Machamp replied, as he shrugged, not bothering to look away from his magazine. This annoyed Brennan.

"Machamp! Where is Mightyena?!" Brennan asked again, this time yanking the magazine out of Machamp's hands as he did.

"Champ?!" Machamp exclaimed.

"Where is Mightyena?" Brennan asked a third time.

The annoyed Machamp was getting ready to reply, when he noticed Mightyena hop up onto his hind legs in front of a display.

"Champ." Machamp replied, as he pointed behind Brennan. Brennan quickly turned around and saw what Mightyena was getting ready to do, he went wide eyed.

Brennan dropped the magazine and took off over towards his misbehaving Pokémon.

"Mightyena! Stop!" Brennan exclaimed, but by the time he did, it was already too late.

Mightyena had jumped up onto his hind legs and leaned his weight against the flimsy cardboard display when he went in to grab a pack of the cookies.

He was able to get the cookies, but his weight caused the display to fall backwards, not only messing up the display, but spilling the masses amount of cookies all over the floor.

Brennan slid to a stop as he watched Mightyena pop up from the mess with a pack of cookies in his mouth.

He was both angry and embarrassed at this point. All of the people staring at him and more than likely talking about how bad of a trainer he was were giving him anxiety. It was awful.

•••

•••

•••

After the mess that Brennan had to deal with in the grocery store, he was finally able to get out of there.

He helped clean up the display, apologized profusely for the mess, and bought the cookies Mightyena snagged in his mouth.

They were on their way back through the city, none of them saying a word. Mightyena already knew that he made Brennan mad, and he didn't do that too often.

Machamp was always a help to bring when they needed to go shopping because for the most part he could carry most of their groceries by himself.

Brennan did stick a few of the more fragile things in his backpack, but for the most part, Machamp had everything else.

"I have to make another stop before we go home." Brennan said, finally breaking the silence.

Neither Mightyena nor Machamp questioned their trainer, instead, they followed in silence.

Brennan needed to make a run into the mall before they headed home. He wanted to surprise Gardevoir with a box of those berries she likes, considering she didn't get to enjoy the last box he bought her, to no fault of her own.

As they approached the parking lot of the mall, Brennan noticed two mean dressed in black headed into the opening of the woods where he would enter when he went to see Gardevoir.

They had some sort of logo on the back of their black jackets, but he was too far away to be able to tell what it was.

They looked shady, Brennan knew that for sure.

He watched them until they disappeared out of sight. He didn't know what they were up to, but he knew it wasn't good.

He finally managed to push them to the back of his mind once they made it to the entrance of the mall.

"Alright, I need to run in here and don't want to leave you two out here by yourselves. Mightyena, since Machamp has all of the groceries I'm going to put you back in your Poké ball until we get out there." Brennan said, Mightyena didn't like that idea too much and Brennan could tell. "Look at it as punishment for what you did in the store. Besides, we shouldn't be in there any longer than five minutes." He continued. Mightyena sadly nodded, looking down towards the ground in shame.

Brennan sighed before pulling Mightyena's Poké ball off of his belt. He patted him on the head, before returning him to his ball.

Brennan immediately felt bad for doing so. One thing he really hated doing was punishing his Pokémon. He didn't even like being mad at them.

They were his best friends. But sometimes they needed to learn from their mistakes. Brennan knew if he didn't punish them when they went too far, they would just keep doing it, and eventually they'd stop listening to him.

He never hit his Pokémon, and he never thought about doing so. His punishments consisted of no desert after dinner, no television, or returning them to their Poké ball for a certain amount of time.

After Brennan returned Mightyena, he looked at Machamp.

"Lets hurry." Brennan said. Machamp nodded.

After, Brennan led his grocery carrying Machamp through the mall to the same food stand that he had been buying the berries at.

The line was somewhat long, but not too bad. Brennan got the berries, stuck them in his bag, and was on his way in less than ten minutes.

As they were headed back towards the entrance, a women made a snarky remark to them.

"Having your Pokémon carry your bags for you? Horrible. What is he, your butler?" The women asked. Brennan frowned at her, Machamp did the same.

"Champ, Champ, Cham-" Machamp started, before Brennan put his hand up.

"-It's okay, Machamp." He assured his Pokémon, before looking back at the women. "No, he's not my butler, he wanted to help, and as far as being a horrible trainer, at least I care about my Pokémon enough to let them out of their balls. Can't say the same for you, aye." He continued, as he glanced down at the three Poké balls strapped to the women's belt.

The women gave him a nasty look, before continuing on her way. Brennan looked back at Machamp, a successful grin on his face.

"That's how you deal with a bully." Brennan said. Machamp smiled at him, before nodding.

After the incident, Brennan and Machamp headed out of the mall. The first thing Brennan did when they got outside was let Mightyena out of his Poké ball.

Once Mightyena was released, the trio headed for home.

Brennan was wondering how Gardevoir was. He was curios if she had been okay while he was gone.

He was hoping Blaziken hadn't said or done anything to her. He figured he didn't, but he was still worried.

They had been gone two hours now, that was longer than Brennan had expected to be gone.

After the relaxing, yet somehow worrisome walk, the group finally made it back to the apartment building.

Brennan was excited to get inside and get off of his feet.

It didn't take them long to make it to the door. Once they did, Brennan pulled his key out and walked inside.

He wasn't even inside the door all of the way, when Gardevoir tackled him into a hug. She caught him off guard, but a small smile made its way onto his face.

"*Chuckles* I missed you, too, Gardevoir." Brennan said as he hugged her back.

"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said as she looked up at him.

"Yes, I'm okay." Brennan said as reassuringly as he could. "Besides a few minor incidents-" he was saying, before pausing as he looked back at Machamp and Mightyena. "-everything went great." He finished, looking back at Gardevoir.

"Blaziken. Blaziken?" Blaziken asked. Brennan nodded.

"Yes, I got your cereal." He replied, as he looked at him. "Oh, I got you something, too." He continued as he looked back at Gardevoir.

Gardevoir was curious at first, as a smile grew on her face.

Brennan pulled his backpack off and opened it up, before pulling the box of berries out of it.

"Made an extra trip when we were in the city." He said as he extended the berries out to her.

Gardevoir quickly hugged him again, before taking the berries.

"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir thanked him. Brennan smiled and nodded.

"You're welcome. Enjoy them." He replied.

"Champ?" Machamp asked, getting Brennan's attention. Brennan turned around and saw Machamp still standing in the doorway with his arms full of groceries.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Head to the kitchen, I'll be right behind you." Brennan said. Machamp nodded as he walked past Brennan and towards the kitchen. "I'm going to help him put the groceries away. Relax and enjoy your berries, I'll be back out here in a few minutes." He said, looking back at Gardevoir.

She smiled and nodded, before making her way back over to the recliner with her berries and retaking her seat.

Brennan smiled at her, before heading into the kitchen. He was relived that she was starting to get more comfortable.

Gardevoir was relived that Brennan had made it back. She knew he would, but she just couldn't help but worry.

But he was back and that's all that mattered. Now it was time for her to relax and enjoy her berries.


	9. Chapter 9

It had already been ten days since Brennan brought Gardevoir home with him. Time just seemed to fly by over the past week and a half.

They hadn't been up to too much since then. Gardevoir still didn't like leaving the apartment. Well, at least leaving it to go into the city.

They had been going on nature walks in the surrounding area around the apartment building, making sure to avoid Brennan's neighbors when they would.

Luckily at this point, she had been getting more and more comfortable being there, which Brennan was really happy about.

He wanted her to feel comfortable; to make herself at home. He had been enjoying her company since she had been staying there.

She was always offering to help him whenever she could, even if she didn't know what he was even doing. She wanted to make herself feel useful, and Brennan thought she was adorable for it.

Brennan was currently moving about the apartment trying to tidy up a little bit. Luna, Lane, and Frankie were supposed to be stopping by for a visit soon.

They had planned this out just a few days prior. It was the only day all three of them were going to be available, so they figured why not get together.

Luna was excited to meet Gardevoir, although Gardevoir didn't really feel the same way.

Something that Brennan had learned real quick about Gardevoir was that she is very shy and timid, at least around anybody that wasn't him.

She wasn't even fully comfortable around Brennan's other Pokémon yet. Mightyena was the only one that had even tried bonding with her since she had been there. Blaziken however was the complete opposite.

He didn't seem like he liked her being around too much, and that annoyed Brennan, just because of the way he acted around her. He could tell it made her even more uncomfortable than she already was.

He was hoping he would warm up to her eventually. He pretty much boiled it down to being a jealousy thing.

As Brennan vacuumed the carpet in the living room, he threw a quick glance at Blaziken. He was laying on the couch with an emotionless expression on his face.

Blaziken was a unique one; he had always been one, but Brennan had never seen him like this before. So... emotionless.

It's not like he had been spending less time with him or giving him less attention since Gardevoir showed up, that's why he was so confused as to why he was acting the way he was. None of the others were.

The others at least acknowledged her existence. Blaziken only did when he was complaining about something she did or something that was being done for her.

Brennan shook his head, before looking over at Machamp, who was sitting in his chair. He didn't have a problem with Gardevoir, he just felt like he would make her feel uneasy if he tried talking to her, and Brennan understood that, but he had already told him he needs to try and show her she was welcomed.

Regardless, Brennan knew that if Gardevoir was going to be staying, the others would have to get used to her whether they liked it or not.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir was sitting in Brennan's room with Mightyena. Mightyena didn't like the vacuum too much, so Gardevoir decided to stay in the room and keep him company until Brennan was done with it.

Brennan had told her that some of his friends were going to be stopping by for a visit. She could only assume the "friends" he was talking about were the ones she saw him with at the mall.

Gardevoir felt nervous already. She didn't really feel comfortable around anyone that wasn't Brennan, and to have to meet three new people today was going to be hard.

Brennan had assured her that they were all really good people, and that "Luna" was really excited to meet her.

Gardevoir trusted Brennan. He wouldn't lie to her, and she knew that. She did feel nervous about meeting new people, but she knew as long as she had him there with her, she would make it through it.

Mightyena had been lying on his stomach, with Gardevoir rubbing his head. He was enjoying every single second of it.

Gardevoir looked over at the clock on Brennan's nightstand and saw that it was almost noon. She knew Brennan's friends were going to be there soon, so she wanted to clean herself up before they got there.

She was still wearing her pajamas that she had become accustomed to over the past week and a half. They were just too darn comfortable.

The shirt was orange and had a Poké ball on the front with "Pokémon Trainer '96" written in big yellow letters outlined in blue. It was pretty large on her, but she didn't care. The shorts were grey with large black lines going from the top to the bottom on either side, with white outlines on each side of the black box. Just like the shirt, they were a bit large on her, but the white pull strings were keeping them up.

As she sat there, she looked down at herself. The large shirt somewhat hid the fact that she had breasts, but you could still see her spike poking against the soft fabric. She frowned when she saw it.

Brennan had been letting her watch the modeling shows she liked, and every time she watched one, she hated herself more and more knowing she could never be as perfect as the women on tv.

She sighed, more loudly than she meant to. Mightyena looked up at her with a confused look. Gardevoir didn't want him to worry, so she gave him a friendly smile, and continued to rub his head.

Mightyena continued to stare at her for several seconds, before finally lowering his head back down onto the bed. Gardevoir mentally sighed in relief.

Once she knew Mightyena was relaxed again, she started wondering if Brennan was into the women from the tv; into the type of women that Gardevoir would never be.

Gardevoir shook her head, trying to push those thoughts away. Why did it matter? Why did she care so much?

Yeah, sure, she thought Brennan was cute... but that doesn't mean anything, right?

Gardevoir was thankfully interrupted from her thoughts, when she heard the loud noise of the vacuum stop. Brennan must have finished vacuuming.

Since he was done, Gardevoir had decided she was going to go take a shower. She looked down at Mightyena, noticing that he had somehow managed to quickly fall asleep. She was a little surprised by this, but took it as her opportunity to get off of the bed and head out of the room.

She slowly and cautiously, as to not wake Mightyena, crawled off of the bed. Once she managed to get to her feet... or points, she levitated over to the closet where Brennan had her dress hanging up. She grabbed it, before heading out of the room.

She slowly and as quiet as possible, opened Brennan's door and stepped into the hallway, before closing it back. Once she was safe, she headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and turned the light on.

She hung her dress up on the hook on the back of the bathroom door, before stepping further into the room.

She stopped in front of the mirror, staring at herself as she did. She grabbed her shirt and quickly pulled it off and dropped it to the cold, tiled floor, before staring at her now bare body. She wasn't impressed.

Next, she grabbed the sides of the basketball shorts, pushing them down and letting them join the shirt on the floor.

She stood there staring at herself in the mirror. She didn't know why she was doing, because she hated what she saw.

She did this every time she came in the bathroom, knowing nothing was ever going to change about her. Even though she wished something would.

She sighed, as she continued to stare at her reflection.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan had just received a text message from Luna letting him know that her, Lane, and Frankie were on their way. He was relieved, he had just finished vacuuming and was putting the vacuum away.

Everything was pretty much set. Brennan wasn't the tidiest person in the world, but his apartment was by no means messy.

He sighed as he closed the door to the small closet and leaned up against it. Now, he was going to go relive his bladder, before going to check on Gardevoir and Mightyena.

He walked down the hall and opened the bathroom door without thinking to knock. He had just grown so used to just walking in the bathroom at home.

He stepped in and saw the bare skinned Gardevoir standing in front of the mirror.

"Voir!" Gardevoir exclaimed, as she quickly tried to cover herself.

Brennan quickly covered his eyes and stared backing out of the room.

"O-oh, Gardevoir! I-I didn't know you were in here! I-I'm sorry. Sorry." Brennan apologized as he backed out into the hallway and closed the door.

Brennan fell back against the wall across from the bathroom and started taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

He was shocked that that had just happened. He stood there wide eyed, staring at the door.

He shook his head before pushing himself off of the wall and heading into his bedroom.

He entered and closed the door behind him, before making his way to his bed and sitting on the edge of it.

Mightyena lifted his head, when he felt the extra weight sit down on the bed.

He got up and walked over next to Brennan, before parking himself next to him. He looked at him and tilted his head curiously.

Brennan looked over at him, the surprise still present on his face.

"Man I need to remember to knock." Brennan said, before shaking his head. Mightyena didn't understand what he meant, but knew his trainer needed some comfort.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir stood there covering herself, her cheeks red with blush. She couldn't believe that just happened. It was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her. Brennan, too... probably.

She nervously bit her bottom lip, as she finally lowered her hands, once again allowing her to see herself in full.

As she once again stood there staring at herself, she couldn't help but wonder just how much Brennan had seen. She blushed heavily at the realization that Brennan had just seen her in her most vulnerable state possible.

She quickly covered her face, trying to hide from the fact that her cheeks were tomato red at this point.

She needed to get away from the mirror. She quickly made her way into the shower, turning the water on once she was inside.

She didn't bother messing with the knobs as long as she had been doing, she just needed water to rain down on her and hopefully take her mind off of what had just happened.

She stood there very still, letting the water rain down on her. It felt great just like it usually did. She had somehow managed to get the temperature of the water close to what she usually liked it, so everything wasn't all bad.

She brushed her now soaked green hair out of her eyes, getting another good look at her body as she did. She blushed again, with her mind quickly traveling back to Brennan.

She didn't know how much he had seen, but she was curious that if he... liked what he did.

No, no, of course not. Gardevoir knew that Brennan wouldn't be into her. Heck, she figured that he probably thought she was just as ugly as she did. That wouldn't surprise her.

Her blush had finally ceased, when that last thought ran through her head.

A few tears started to make their way down Gardevoir's cheeks. This was awful.

She finally found someone that she enjoyed being around, and it doesn't take two weeks before he sees just how she really looks.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She needed to relax and not worry about this right now.

She was in the shower to get clean, not to mope about something she knew was going to happen from the moment she met Brennan.

She sighed as she let the shower water wash the tears off of her face. Reality was hard to deal with, but it was something that couldn't be avoided.

Gardevoir grabbed the soap and started washing herself. She had managed to calm down, for the most part at least.

Yes, she was still thinking about Brennan. But not about what she thought was going through his mind after seeing what he did.

As little sense as it made, she was thinking about Brennan to help relax herself. There was just something about him that always made everything better for Gardevoir. It was nice.

She loved being around him, but after this, she didn't know how that was going to work. She closed her eyes and sighed again, as she allowed the warm water to wash the soap away.

•••

•••

•••

After sitting in his room for close to ten minutes, still trying to process what had happened, Brennan finally decided to go and join the others in the living room.

He stood up, causing Mightyena to do the same.

"Come on, buddy. Luna, Lane, and Frankie are going to be here any minute." Brennan said. Mightyena's tail started wagging happily. He loved being around Lune. She knew just where his sweet spot was under his snout. It felt glorious when she scratched him there.

Brennan and Mightyena headed out towards the living room. As they were walking down the hallway, Brennan heard the shower going in the bathroom. He knew Gardevoir was still in there.

He knew he embarrassed her and probably made her feel more uncomfortable with what he had done than anything that has happened since she had been there. It made him feel bad.

Obviously he didn't mean to walk in on her. It was an accident. And it's not like he stood there staring at her when he did. He had immediately covered his eyes, apologized, and backed out the door as quickly as he could.

Brennan was broke from his thoughts when he saw Gardevoir enter the room. She was once again wearing her flowing white dress, and had her now shiny hair done up exactly like she usually did.

As she walked in, the two of them made eye contact. Gardevoir blushed and quickly looked away as they did. Brennan couldn't help but blush a little himself.

Gardevoir was on her way to the couch, but quickly changed her direction and headed into the kitchen instead.

Brennan had to go and try to make things right. Gardevoir was clearly embarrassed as heck right now, even though she shouldn't have been.

Brennan stood up and walked towards the kitchen, without saying a word to his Pokémon.

When he got into the doorway of the kitchen, he saw Gardevoir standing in front of the counter closest to the stove, staring at the wall.

"U-uh, hey, Gardevoir?" Brennan said, slowly and quietly. Gardevoir slightly tensed up when she heard his voice. "Hey, I wanted to apologize again for what happened. I-I really didn't know you were in there. I should have knocked. I'm sorry." He said, sounding as sincere as he possibly could.

Gardevoir slowly started to turn around and face him. She was trying as hard as she could to hide her blush from him.

Brennan started feeling building embarrassment in him. He already knew why.

"G-Gardevoir. Garde?" Gardevoir said, once she finally turned around.

"I promise, it was an accident." Brennan said.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, as she slowly nodded, before looking down towards the floor. Her cheeks were once again red with blush.

As Brennan stood there staring at her, he couldn't help but blush a little himself. This Gardevoir was definitely special, and what he saw in that millisecond in the bathroom proved that.

Brennan was broke from his thoughts when he heard a knock on the front door.

Gardevoir immediately looked up, as Brennan looked out the doorway of the kitchen.

"That must be them." Brennan said, as he turned back to face Gardevoir. "I promise you, they're nice. You don't have to worry about them hurting you. I wouldn't let them even if they wanted to." He said, trying to reassure the clearly nervous Gardevoir. Gardevoir gave him a slight nod in response. Brennan flashed her a small reassuring smile, that made her once again bite her bottom lip.

"I'm going to go answer that. Come on out, it'll be okay." Brennan said, before turning and walking out of the kitchen, leaving Gardevoir standing there alone.

Gardevoir was very nervous about meeting these people, but again, she trusted Brennan. She knew that as long as he was there with her, she would be okay.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before she slowly started heading out of the kitchen.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan made it to the front door just as another loud knock was heard.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming!" Brennan called through the door, as he unlocked it and pulled it open. Luna, Lane, Frankie, Delphox, and Greninja were all standing outside.

"Is this where the party's at?" Lane asked, jokingly.

"Definitely not. You've got the wrong apartment my friend." Brennan replied. Lane laughed in response.

"What's going on, dude." Lane said.

"Nothing much at all." Brennan replied, before stepping aside. "Come on in." He said.

"Thank you!" Luna exclaimed, excitedly, before stepping into the apartment. The others followed behind.

As Luna walked in, Mightyena happily ran up and jumped on her, his tail wagging.

"Hi, Mightyena." Luna said, happily, as she rubbed his head.

Blaziken had been laid out on the couch, until he saw Delphox walk in. He quickly flailed to try and sit up, but ended up falling off of the couch and landing face first on the floor.

"Del-phox." Delphox said with a smile, as she slowly walked over to the laid out Pokémon.

"B-Blaziken." Blaziken muttered, even though it was muffled by the fact that his face was buried into the carpet.

Blaziken pushed himself up off of the floor, and saw Delphox standing in front of him. He slowly looked up at her, and saw her giving him another half lidded smile.

"Delphox." She said. Blaziken blushed, before finally getting himself to his feet.

"B-Blaziken. Blaziken." Blaziken said, as he motioned to the couch, offering Delphox a place to sit.

"~Delphox~" She crooned, as she sat down. Blaziken nervously rubbed the back of his neck, before Delphox grabbed his arm and pulled him down next to her.

Luna giggled, as she watched Delphox hug onto Blaziken's arm. Blaziken turned a bright crimson in color.

"Never gets old." Brennan said, a smile on his face, as he looked over at his incredibly embarrassed Pokémon.

"So... where is-" Luna started, before stopping, when she noticed Gardevoir slowly making her way into the room. "-Oh, and this must be Gardevoir." She said, in a very friendly tone.

Brennan turned around, and saw Gardevoir gingerly making her way over to the group.

"Yep, it is." Brennan replied. Gardevoir levitated over to the group, making sure to stay just behind Brennan. "Gardevoir, this is Luna, Lane, and Frankie." He said, pointing to each as he introduced them.

"Hi! I'm Luna, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Gardevoir." Luna greeted, happily, as she waved. Lane and Frankie gave her waves, too.

Gardevoir looked up at Brennan, still very nervous. Brennan looked back at her and gave her a reassuring smile and nod.

"It's okay, Gardevoir." He said, softly. Gardevoir looked back at Luna, before slightly waving to her. "She's a little shy, but I'm sure she'll warm up to you guys." He said, as he looked back at the trio.

"That's quite alright. I know meeting new people can be a very, very nerve racking thing to do. I go through it myself sometimes." Luna said. Lane raised an eyebrow as she did.

"Oh, really? So you didn't run up to that lady at the store that one time and talk her ear off for ten minutes?" Lane asked. Luna narrowed her eyes at him.

"That lady was nice! She said I was pretty!" She replied, defensively.

"I don't think that meant she wanted you to talk her ear off, though." Lane said.

"Hmph, what do you know." Luna said in a child like, annoyed tone, before looking away from her boyfriend and back at Gardevoir, her smile returning back to her face. "So, Gardevoir, have you been enjoying yourself since you've been staying here?" She asked. Gardevoir gave her a slow, single in response. "That's good! Brennan has told us a lot about you!" She exclaimed. Gardevoir looked back up at Brennan, curiously.

He... He talked about her to his friends? She knew he obviously told them about her, but she didn't know that he constantly talked about her to them. That made her happy.

Gardevoir slightly stepped out from behind Brennan, so she could stand next to him instead of behind him. Luna smiled when she noticed this.

When she stepped more in view, thats when Frankie noticed her... differences between her and a regular Gardevoir. He went wide eyed when he saw them.

Gardevoir looked over and noticed him staring at her chest. She immediately crossed her arms over them, giving him an annoyed look as she did.

Frankie quickly shook his head, before looking at Brennan.

"Uh... hey, can I... talk to you in the other room for a minute?" Frankie asked. Brennan was curious about what he needed to talk to him about.

"Um... sure." He replied, before looking over at Gardevoir. "I'm going to talk to him a minute. I'll be right back." He said, before he started to walk off.

"Gardevoir!" Gardevoir exclaimed, as she grabbed ahold of his arm. Brennan stopped and looked at her.

"I'm just going into the kitchen. I'll be right back. I promise." Brennan said. Gardevoir didn't want Brennan to leave her alone with Luna and Lane.

Sure, they seemed friendly enough, and Brennan's other Pokémon were in the room with them, but still, she felt better with Brennan there with her.

"It's okay, Gardevoir. He won't be gone long. And besides, I'd really like to talk to you some more. I don't bite, I promise." Luna said, her friendly smile reaming on her face.

Gardevoir looked at her, before looking back at Brennan, who still had his reassuring smile on his face.

"I'll only be gone a minute." He said. Gardevoir stood there staring at him, before reluctantly nodding. She had a very unsure look on her face, but again, she trusted Brennan. "Good. Besides, I'm sure Luna would love to learn more about you." He continued.

"Of course I would!" Luna exclaimed, happily.

"V-Voir." Gardevoir said, before once again nodding at Brennan. He smiled again, before softly patting her on the shoulder. She once again blushed at his touch.

"Come on." Brennan said, as he motioned his head towards the kitchen. Frankie nodded, before the two walked off.

Gardevoir watched Brennan disappear out of the room, before nervously looking back at Luna.

•••

•••

•••

Once Brennan and Frankie got in the kitchen, Brennan immediately leaned on one of the counters.

"So what's up?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, I uh... don't mean to offend you in any way... but Gardevoir... she isn't normal." Frankie replied. That got Brennan to stand straight back up.

"What do you mean?" Brennan asked, slightly annoyed by the question.

"She isn't like other Gardevoir'. She... she has breasts for gosh sake. That's not a normal Gardevoir." Frankie replied.

"Stop saying that. She has breasts, so what?" Brennan said curiously. Even though he was annoyed because of what Frankie had said, he still couldn't help but blush at the mention of Gardevoir's breasts, after what happened earlier.

"Brennan, Gardevoir' aren't supposed to have breasts. Heck, Pokémon in general aren't supposed to have breasts. That Gardevoir isn't normal." Frankie said.

"Look, you're really irritating me now. I've already told you-" Brennan started, before being cut off.

"-Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. But you really have to know something is... off about that Gardevoir." Frankie said. Brennan shook his head.

"Nothing is ''off'' about Gardevoir. So stop saying there is." He said in a very annoyed tone.

"Brennan, the only thing I'm trying to say is maybe you should take her to Professor Birch in Littleroot Town, maybe he can-" Frankie started, before being cut off.

"-Nope. Absolutely not. No way." Brennan said, as he started shaking his head. "Besides, I got my Blaziken and my Pokédex from him. I don't think he really specializes in anything other than that." He continued.

"Well, if you would have let me finish, I was going to say we can go and ask his opinion on her. He'll let us know what Professor he thinks would best benefit both you and Gardevoir." Frankie said. Brennan was quick to once again shake his head.

"Still, no. I won't be doing that to Gardevoir. She's technically not even my Pokémon." He said, surprising Frankie.

"You didn't catch her?" He asked. Brennan shook his head.

"No. I invited her to come stay here." He replied.

"Dude..." Frankie said, as he shook his head in disbelief.

"She was living in the forest. I asked her to come stay because the last time I saw her, she was getting attacked by a group of Ursaring. She needed help." Brennan said. Frankie sighed.

"Brennan, why do you care so much about a Pokémon you just met two weeks ago?" Frankie asked. Brennan looked down towards the floor, staying silent. He didn't know how to answer that question.

"Look, I'm done talking about this. I'm not taking Gardevoir anywhere to be experimented on. That's it." Brennan said, before walking out of the kitchen, leaving Frankie standing there.

•••

•••

•••

Luna had finally gotten Gardevoir to sit down on the couch with her. She had been acting as friendly as she could. She knew Brennan said Gardevoir was a little shy, so she was trying to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

"You know, I don't know if anyone has ever told you, but you have very pretty eyes." Luna said, as she stared into Gardevoir's large sparkly red eyes. Gardevoir blushed a deep shade of red, as she looked down towards her clasped hands that rested in her lap.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied in almost an inaudible whisper. Luna smiled.

She was getting ready to say something else, when Brennan walked back into the room.

Gardevoir immediately lit up with a smile. Brennan smiled back as he made his way over to the cramped couch and sat down in between Delphox, who was still snuggling up to Blazilen's arm, and Gardevoir, who happily scooted over to give him some room.

The first thing Gardevoir could sense when he sat down was that he had been annoyed. Her smile diminished as she cocked her head to the side.

"Gardevoir?" She asked, curiously.

"Everything's fine, Gardevoir." Brennan replied, a small reassuring smile on his face. Gardevoir was unsure, she didn't know what had happened between him and Frankie, but she wanted to.

Frankie walked in the room next. He had a less than enthused look on his face.

"Is everything alright?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Frankie replied. Luna didn't look like she believed it, and Brennan could tell.

"So... what did you two talk about?" He asked, wanting to change the subject. Luna smiled.

"Oh, I told Gardevoir that I want to take her shopping in the city soon!" Luna exclaimed, happily. Brennan smiled.

"Well, that sounds nice. Maybe we can make a day of it or something." He said, as he looked at Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir. Garde?" Gardevoir asked, tugging on Brennan's arm. Brennan chuckled and nodded.

"Yep, of course I'll be coming with you." He replied, that got Gardevoir to smile a little.

She didn't like the city, but she was starting to feel more comfortable around Luna, so she didn't mind "going shopping" with her, as long as Brennan was with them of course. Which by the sound of what he just said, he was going to be.

"Delphox?" Delphox asked, tugging on Blaziken's arm. Luna giggled.

"Yep! Blaziken can come, too!" She replied. Delphox smiled at Blaziken, who was still madly blushing.

"~Del-phox.~" Delphox crooned. Blaziken gulped. Brennan chuckled.

Gardevoir smiled when he did. Almost completely forgetting about what had happened earlier, she was actually kinda enjoying herself.

She knew Brennan wouldn't lie to her about his friends being good people, and he didn't.

Maybe this "meet up" wasn't going to be as bad as Gardevoir had originally thought.


	10. Chapter 10

Three days had passed since Luna, Lane, and Frankie's visit. Three days had also passed since the bathroom incident.

For the most part, Gardevoir and Brennan had tried their very best to forget that it even happened. It just made them feel uncomfortable around each other if they didn't.

But, besides that, everything else had been good.

Gardevoir had actually really enjoyed Luna. She didn't feel as comfortable with her as she did Brennan, of course, but still.

Lane was okay, too. But she didn't feel like she cared too much for Frankie. The way she caught him staring at her chest was just way too off for her.

She was excited, however. Tomorrow, they were supposed to be meeting up with Luna, Lane, and their Pokémon and spending time in the city. Gardevoir couldn't wait.

For the first time since she had been there, Gardevoir was actually excited to be going back to the city. She couldn't wait to go to some of the stores with Luna.

Brennan had actually been pretty relived that Gardevoir liked Luna so much. Luna was actually pretty hard not to like. But with how shy Gardevoir is, he figured it would have been possible.

Today, the group had been lounging around the apartment. Gardevoir didn't even feel the need to change out of her pajamas, so she didn't.

They had all been relaxing in the living room watching tv. Brennan didn't care what was on. He knew his Pokémon all had different tastes in shows, so he let them decide.

After Blaziken had refused to give up the remote, Gardevoir used her psychokinesis to once again take it from him. Brennan got a kick out of it. Gardevoir enjoyed seeing him smile, it made her feel good. Especially considering she was the one to do it.

Blaziken wasn't too thrilled about having the remote taken from him. He still didn't seem like he cared for Gardevoir.

Yes, it did still annoy Brennan the way he acted towards her. But at this point, it didn't seem like Blaziken even fazed Gardevoir anymore.

Before it would make her feel uncomfortable. But now, she just plays it off like he's not even there. And Brennan figured that annoyed him too.

Brennan leaned back against the couch, with his arms folded and his feet propped up on the coffee table, staring at the tv as Gardevoir, who was sat next to him, flipped through the channels. He knew she was looking for any type of modeling show.

What Brennan thought was funny was Gardevoir had somehow managed to turn Roserade onto watching those modeling shows. Fashion was something Roserade had very little interest in before Gardevoir showed up.

Roserade had been lying on her stomach, but when he realized that Gardevoir had the remote, she quickly sat upright, waiting for Gardevoir to find a channel.

A small smile grew on Brennan's face. With the exception of Blaziken, his Pokémon had finally been interacting more with Gardevoir. It was a pleasant sight to see.

Machamp joined them for one of their nature walks a couple of days ago, and he and Gardevoir had a contest to see who could lift a heavier tree log. Gardevoir won, but that's because she used her psychokinesis to lift.

Machamp wasn't sore about losing either, he thought it was quite funny just like Brennan did.

And of course Brennan already knew that Mightyena liked her. He wasn't shy when it came to meeting new people or Pokémon. And Gardevoir seemed to know where his sweet spot is when she's rubbing him, just like Luna does. He loved anyone who knew where his sweet spot is.

And ever since Roserade started her bonding with Gardevoir, Sandslash has started to try, too. Brennan knew that was going to happen. Sandslash and Roserade were close, so whatever one of them did, the other had to.

Sandslash wasn't into fashion like the girls were, but he and Gardevoir did realize they both really enjoyed the same cartoons. Sandslash did have a good taste in cartoons, so he wasn't surprised.

Brennan was broke away from his thoughts, when he heard Blaziken groan. He looked at him, before looking back at the tv. Gardevoir had managed to find another fashion show.

A smile was very present on her face, as she sat back, entranced with the models on the tv. Brennan smiled at her, before looking back at the tv.

Roserade was sat still, enjoining the show just as much as Gardevoir was. Brennan let out a light chuckle when he noticed.

They watched as the tall, brown haired model walked down the catwalk wearing a short, lacy-black dress. Her Sylveon, who was wearing a matching lacy-black vest with two bow ties on over her already existing ones, followed her. Brennan had to admit, it was kinda adorable.

He started wondering what it would be like if one of his Pokémon' was a model. The first thing that popped into his mind was Blaziken wearing some sort of dress, strutting as he walked down the catwalk. Brennan struggled to keep from breaking out into hysterics at the thought.

He broke away from his thoughts, looking over at Blaziken as he did. Blaziken sat at the opposite end of the couch with his arms folded and an annoyed look on his face.

As annoyed as Brennan got with Blaziken over the way he had been acting over the past couple of weeks, he did kind of feel bad for him. Blaziken was used to things being the way they were before Gardevoir arrived. But regardless of whether he liked it or not, she was there. Things have changed. The others have gotten used to her, so why won't he?

Brennan sat there lost in thought again. He really wished Blaziken would warm up to her, at least a little.

After all, even though Brennan was the trainer, Blaziken was the leader of his team. He had always been. Heck, the others looked up to Blaziken. So seeing him being so stubborn was... sad.

"Roserade!" Roserade exclaimed, happily, as she pointed at the tv, once again breaking Brennan from his thoughts.

"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, as she smiled and nodded.

Brennan looked at her, before looking at the tv. The reason Roserade had been so excited was because the next model that came walking down the catwalk, was being accompanied by none other than, a Roserade.

The model was a tall, slender brunette women, wearing a tight to the body, green sequin dress, that hung down to about her thighs. The dress had a half pink, half blue rose pinned over the left breast. It was pretty obvious why that was.

Her accompanying Roserade was wearing a matching sequin dress that hung down to the floor. She had her hair tied with with a pink and blue ribbon. Brennan's Roserade was enamored with her.

"Roserade? Roserade?!" Roserade asked, as she turned around to face Brennan.

"That dress probably costs more than I have saved up. Maybe if we win the lottery or something." Brennan replied. Roserade looked away in disappointment. Brennan slightly shook his head, as an amused smile formed on his face.

After the last model made her way down and back up the catwalk with her Fennekin, all the models made their way back down the catwalk with their dressed up Pokémon' one last time. There was a series of flashes from cameras and claps, as the show ended. Both Gardevoir and Roserade were disappointed by this. Blaziken... not so much.

"Blaziken. Ken. Blaziken?" Blaziken asked, annoyance clearly present in his voice. Brennan looked over at him, equally annoyed.

"Blaziken, you have had the tv to yourself all day. Let the others watch what they want for a little while." Brennan said. Blaziken huffed and folded his arms as he looked away. It was like dealing with a child who wasn't getting their way.

He slowly looked over at Gardevoir, who was back to flipping through the channels. He growled in annoyance.

Brennan heard the growl, and was growing very fed up with the way Blaziken was acting. So he decided something.

"Hey, how do you guys feel about pizza for dinner tonight?" Brennan asked. His Pokémon all let out some sort of happy cry in response. He chuckled.

He looked over at Gardevoir and saw just how confused she was. She had never had pizza before.

"Trust me, Gardevoir. Pizza is great." Brennan reassured her. "It's like a pie, but has cheese, pepperoni, sauce and other toppings of the sort." He explained. Gardevoir was intrigued by this. She smiled and happily nodded.

"Gardevoir!" Gardevoir said, happily. Brennan chuckled.

"Champ. Champ. Machamp." Machamp said, getting Brennan's attention.

"Yes, Machamp, I know you don't eat pepperoni. I will order two." He replied. Machamp nodded at his trainer in response.

Brennan stood up and stretched. He was getting ready to walk into his bedroom to grab his cellphone that he had left laying on his dresser.

"Voir?" Gardevoir said curiously, getting Brennan to stop and face her.

"It's okay, Gardevoir. I have to go grab my phone. I left it in the bedroom." He replied. Gardevoir nodded.

Every time Brennan would leave a room, Gardevoir would get somewhat paranoid and ask him where he was going. She was always so scared that he wasn't going to come back, even if he was just going into another room for a split second.

Brennan didn't get mad at her or anything for asking. Every time she asked, he could sense her worry. But, he had come back enough times over the past two weeks she had been there to where she was getting more trusting. Well, at least Brennan thought she was getting more trusting.

He walked out of the living room and down the hall. Gardevoir didn't take her eyes off of him until he was completely out of view.

Her lingering sense of worry didn't last too long, however. Brennan wasn't out of the room for ten seconds before re-appearing from down the hall. Gardevoir was once again able to relax.

"So, I'm getting two pizzas. One with pepperoni and one without. Is that good?" Brennan asked, as he looked around at his Pokémon.

"Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken." Blaziken said. Blaziken liked getting olives and green pepper on his pizza, Brennan didn't care either way. He liked those toppings. But, he was worried Gardevoir wouldn't. And instead of making her pick them off, leaving an after taste on the pizza, he decided something that Blaziken wasn't going to like.

"This time we're going to avoid getting those, buddy. I want to make sure Gardevoir will actually enjoy it since its her first time eating it." Brennan said. Blaziken didn't enjoy his response too much.

"Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken complained.

"It's just this once, okay?" Brennan said. Blaziken crossed his arms in annoyance. He narrowed his eyes as he glanced over at Gardevoir. Brennan took notice.

Brennan shook his head, before looking over at Gardevoir.

"Does that sound good to you?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir nodded. She still had her cute, innocent smile on her face. Brennan had really grown to enjoy that.

After the pizzas were ordered, Brennan got ready to head into the city to get them. He planned on taking Blaziken with him so they could have a little privacy to talk. Brennan really wanted to try and get him to change his behavior.

"Blaziken, I want you to come with me to pick them up." Brennan said, as he stood in front of his Pokémon.

"Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken complained.

"Yeah, yeah, I know you don't want to, but it'll get you out of the apartment for a little while. You're the only one that has refused to get off that couch in the last week." Brennan said. Blaziken groaned loudly, before standing up. "Machamp, you're in charge while we're gone." He continued, looking over at his four-armed Pokémon as he did.

"Machamp." Machamp replied, as he nodded.

"Good. Again, you guys know the rules. I don't want any of you leaving the apartment while we're gone, got it?" Brennan said, strictly. His Pokémon nodded in response.

"Gardevoir. Garde?" Gardevoir said, curiously, as she hopped up from the couch and grabbed Brennan's arm.

"I'll be okay. We should only be gone about half an hour." Brennan replied, trying to reassure her. Gardevoir nodded. Like usual, she started to get really worried. The fear of him not coming back was once again prominent. But, she had to tell herself over and over again that he's always come back. That helped relax her, a little at least. She wasn't going to be fully relaxed again until she saw him walk back through the door. "We're heading out. Again, we shouldn't be gone long. So behave." He continued, looking around at his scattered Pokémon.

After, he turned back towards Gardevoir, gave her a small smile, and patted her on the shoulder.

"I'll see you when we get back, okay?" Brennan said. Gardevoir's cheeks lit up with just the slightest amount of blush, causing her to look away nervously.

"V-Voir." She replied in an almost inaudible tone. Brennan's smile grew ever so slightly wider with her response.

"Okay, Blaziken, lets go." Brennan said, before he and Blaziken headed to the door.

Gardevoir slowly lowered herself back down into her seat on the couch, as she watched them leave. Her blush remained on her face as she did.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan and Blaziken had started their walk into the city. The pizza place wasn't too far off of the path, so that was good.

It had been a pretty lazy day, so it had passed pretty quickly and the sun was starting to set.

Brennan looked over at his Pokémon- watching the wind blow through his already messy fur.

"Blaziken, look. I know things have been...different the past couple of weeks, but you have to stop acting so cold towards Gardevoir. She hasn't done anything wrong." Brennan said, getting Blaziken to look at him.

"Blaziken. Blaze? Blaziken?" Blaziken said in a surprised annoyance. "Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken!" He exclaimed. Brennan was somewhat caught off guard with the way Blaziken had just raised his voice at him, but that was the least of his worries at that moment.

"Blaziken, I'm not playing favorites. I don't know why you would even say something like that. Just because I made you let Gardevoir watch tv, or because I ordered a pizza without your favorite toppings...once, doesn't mean you need to treat her like she pissed in your Poké-O's." Brennan said. Blaziken shook his head as he looked away.

"Blaziken. Blaziken, Blaze?" Blaziken said, curiously, as he looked back at his trainer. "Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken. Blaze-I-ken." He continued, flailing his arms as he did. He wanted to get his point across.

"Yes, I know you were there first, and it's still your home just as much as it is the others. But Gardevoir, she obviously hasn't had it as easy as us. The others and I are trying to make her feel more at home, and you should start too. Because I'm pretty sure, if the roles were reversed, and Gardevoir was treating you like you don't belong, it would make you feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, too." Brennan said. Blaziken shook his head again, as he quickened his pace just a little bit.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken." He said, not looking back at his trainer as he did.

"What do you mean you're done with this conversation? Blaziken, I'm being serious here. You can't just walk away from me." Brennan said.

"Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken replied. Brennan was starting to grow very annoyed at this point.

Brennan sped up to catch up to Blaziken. When he caught him, he grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to stop.

"Blaziken, stop acting like this." Brennan said, causing Blaziken to shrug his hand off.

"Blaziken. Blaziken? Blaze. Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken!" Blaziken yelled, as he finally turned around to face Brennan. "Blaziken! Blaze. Blaziken!" He continued.

Brennan stood there, watching as Blaziken finally exploded. Unfortunately, Brennan saw this coming. He was hoping he could calm Blaziken down before it happened, but it doesn't seem like he was able to.

"Blaziken-" Brennan started, before being cut off.

"-Blaziken! Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken." Blaziken said, weeks worth of frustration finally forcing its way out of him.

Yes, Blaziken disliked Gardevoir. He disliked her because she shows up out of nowhere and Brennan turned all of his attention to her regardless of whether he wants to admit it or not. It made him mad. It wasn't just about the eggs, or the tv, or the pizza toppings, it was the fact that she shows up and she automatically starts getting special treatment. Like she was more important than him and the others, and he was tired of it.

"Blaziken! Blaziken! Blaze!" Blaziken yelled. Brennan just continued to stand there, allowing Blaziken to get everything he needed to off of his chest. "Blaziken! Blaziken! Blaze! "Blaziken!" He continued, before turning his back to his trainer. "Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze." He finished, before walking back towards the apartment.

"Where are you going?" Brennan asked.

"Blaziken." Blaziken replied. He was going home. He didn't even want to be around Brennan at that moment. He didn't want to be around Gardevoir either, but he didn't really have too many options.

Brennan stood there, watching Blaziken as he walked back the way they had just come. Blaziken knew his way back to the apartment, so he wasn't worried about him getting lost. He figured he needed some time to himself, so that's why he decided not to go after him.

Heck, Brennan needed some time to himself to think through everything that had just happened. He brought Blaziken with him in hopes to talk him into changing his attitude towards Gardevoir, but he ended up pushing him over the edge instead.

Brennan shook his head in disappointment, as he continued his walk into the city to get the pizza. This was going to be rough to patch up, and he knew it.

•••

•••

•••

After slowly making his way back to the apartment, Blaziken stood outside staring at it. He honestly didn't even want to be around anyone at that particular moment. He was frustrated and upset with what had happened. He had never yelled at Brennan the way he had just done, but he just couldn't hold his frustrations in anymore. He couldn't.

Blaziken stood there for several minutes just staring at the large, brick apartment building in front of him.

He eventually decided to back inside. He was thirsty anyways.

Blaziken headed back towards their apartment and knocked on the door. Brennan had the key, so there was no way he was getting in without knocking.

Several seconds passed, before Blaziken heard heavy footsteps approach the door.

After several more seconds of waiting, the door opened, and Machamp stood in front of him. He was confused.

Blaziken pushed through without waiting for him to move. Gardevoir immediately jumped up when she saw that he was alone.

"Gardevoir?! Gardevoir?! Garde?!" Gardevoir exclaimed, panic starting to take over.

"Champ. Machamp?" Machamp asked.

"Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken replied, not stopping as he walked towards the kitchen. He simply told them Brennan was on his way to get the pizza, and that was it. They didn't need to know why he had come back.

Gardevoir was still in panic mode, fearing that something had happened to him.

Roserade and Mightyena were immediately to their feet trying to calm her down. Machamp stood in the same spot he had been after being nudged out of the way, watching Blaziken as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Something had happened, and he knew it.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan had got the pizzas and was almost home with them. The whole walk there and back, the only thing he could think about was what had happened between him and Blaziken.

It hurt him as he thought about it. Blaziken was his bestfriend, and had been for almost ten years. And over those ten years, they had never had an argument like that before.

Brennan knew he was going to have to fix things. Realistically it was his fault the reason Blaziken felt the way he did, so it was his responsibility to fix things.

Several minutes of hurtful thinking passed, before Brennan finally reached his apartment. He hesitated going inside because he knew he was going to have to face Blaziken again. He was hoping he had calmed down some.

Brennan headed for the door. He went to unlock it, but saw that it was already unlocked, meaning Blaziken had made it home. That relieved Brennan somewhat. At least he knew Blaziken actually came home.

He pushed open the door and saw Gardevoir sitting in a panic on the couch with his other Pokémon trying to calm her down.

"Gardevoir, what's wrong?" Brennan asked in a worried tone.

"Gardevoir! Gardevoir!" Gardevoir exclaimed, as she jumped up and quickly made her way over to him. She tackled him into a hug and practically took him off of his feet.

When she tackled him, he threw the pizzas up in the air. Luckily, Machamp was successfully able to catch them.

"G-Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Voir." Gardevoir exclaimed, as she hugged him. Brennan rubbed her back, obviously able to tell that she had been worried. Mainly because he was able to feel that she had been.

"It's okay, Gardevoir. I told you I was coming back." He replied, soothingly, trying to ignore the fact that he was being stabbed with her chest spike.

"G-Gardevoir. Voir." Gardevoir said in an inaudible whisper, as she continued to hug him.

"Champ. Machamp?" Machamp asked, as he pointed to the kitchen. He knew Blaziken was in there.

"It's nothing guys. Blaziken just didn't want to come, so he came back. Nothing to worry about." Brennan replied.

Machamp was a lot smarter than he was given credit for, so he already knew something had happened, he just didn't know what.

"So... how's about we eat?" Brennan said, curiously. Gardevoir finally broke the hug enough to look up at him. She was more relaxed now, which was good.

Brennan headed for the kitchen to get some plates and napkins. It was now time for the awkward dinner they were about to have to go through. Brennan tried to push that thought to the back of his mind, remembering this was also going to be the first time Gardevoir got to eat pizza. He was generally curious about how she was going to react to it.

And having to awkwardly eat with Blaziken after their fight, was going to be worth it to see Gardevoir's reaction to another new food. Besides, it gave him time to think of his he was going to apologize to Blaziken. 'Cause he sure did need time to think that one through.

•••

•••

•••

The room was dark. Two men nervously stood in the middle of the room, waiting for their boss' response.

"What do you mean you couldn't find here?!" A tall, brown haired man yelled, as he spun around in his chair to face the two men that had just entered the room.

"W-we're sorry, sir, b-but we couldn't find her." One of the men replied, nervously. The boss growled in annoyance, before pounding on the arm rest of his chair.

"I gave you morons one job and you couldn't even do that!" The boss yelled, angrily, causing the two men standing in front of him to start shaking in their boots. "I told you exactly where she was going to be, and you STILL failed to bring her back!" He continued, somehow sounding more angry than before.

"P-please, sir, give us another chance. We'll find her, and we'll deliver her to you." The other man begged. The boss growled, as he stared at the two men.

"Fine. Because I'm such a nice guy, I will give you pathetic wastes of space another chance. But I promise you, if you do not track her down and bring her to me, there will be SERIOUS repercussions that I know neither of you will enjoy!" He yelled, causing the two men to jump. "Now get out of my office and don't fail me again!" He continued.

"Y-yes, sir!" Both men exclaimed in unison, before turning around and taking off out of their bosses office.

The man spun back around in his chair to face his computer monitor. On it, a picture of a Gardevoir. A sinister smirk grew on his face as he stared at the picture.

"Soon my dear." He said, before letting out a very dark laugh.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning came faster than Brennan had expected.

After their dinner last night, which Gardevoir loved by the way, everyone pretty much just went back to lounging around the living room as they let their food digest.

Blaziken hadn't said a word to Brennan since their falling out. He was still trying to think of the right way to try and make amends with his Pokémon.

Brennan stared up at the ceiling in his dark bedroom- the only small amount of light coming from the cracks in the blinds over the window. He looked over and saw Gardevoir still sound asleep. A small smile crossed his face.

He felt somewhat weird thinking it, but he couldn't deny that Gardevoir looked very adorable when she slept.

He moved his eyes towards the foot of the bed where Mightyena was still curled up sleeping. He always slept in that same spot at the foot of the bed.

Brennan had always heard that Pokémon did that as a means of protection for their trainer. He figured that was the reason Mightyena did it. Either that, or he was looking way too into things and the bed was just comfortable. He sat up, a small chuckle escaping his mouth.

As he stared down at the sleeping Mightyena, he felt the bed shift beside him. He looked over and saw Gardevoir slowly opening her eyes.

She slowly sat up, before tiredly looking around the dark room, her gaze eventually landing on Brennan.

"Good morning, Gardevoir." Brennan said, a smile on his face.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied, before stretching and letting out her usual adorable yawn. Brennan's heart seemed to melt every time she did.

Brennan pushed the covers off of him, before throwing his legs over the side of the bed. They sunk into the soft carpet as he stood up.

"It's only ten, but we have to leave by eleven thirty if we're going to meet Luna and Lane for lunch." Brennan said, stretching out his own muscles.

"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said, as she slowly crawled over to Brennan's side of the bed. Brennan turned around as Gardevoir dropped into a sitting position and hung her legs off the side.

Brennan managed to make out Gardevoir's form in just the little bit amount of light that was shining through the blinds. He smiled as he looked her up and down.

"C'mon. I'll make you breakfast." He said, motioning for Gardevoir to follow. She smiled and nodded, as she hopped off the bed. She floated behind Brennan out of the room, down the hallway, and into the kitchen. Once they arrived in the kitchen, Brennan pulled a chair out for Gardevoir. She flashed him a cutesy smile as she sat down.

"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said. Brennan smiled and nodded.

"You're welcome." He replied. "So, I'm not going to make anything too fancy. Don't want to fill up before lunch." He said, looking down at Gardevoir. "How does toast sound?" He asked.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Voir." Gardevoir replied, her smile still on her face. Brennan nodded.

"Toast it is, ma'lady." He replied, causing Gardevoir to giggle.

Gardevoir sat in the chair, watching Brennan as he maneuvered around the small area and made them breakfast. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him. He made her happy. More happy than she had ever been before. He was sweet with the way he treated her, and she couldn't help but wonder just how much he cared about her.

She had honestly thought about this a lot over the past couple of weeks. Brennan made her feel safe. He made her feel wanted. He made her feel... happy. So, so happy.

Gardevoir was broken from her thoughts when she heard the toast pop up from the toaster. The sudden sound still surprised her when it happened. She watched as Brennan grabbed the two pieces of bread and put them on a plate. After that, he blocked her view just well enough so she couldn't see what he was doing.

She craned her neck so she could try to see what he was doing, but it was no use. Several seconds passed before Brennan finally turned around.

"Your favorite, right?" Brennan said curiously, a small grin on his face.

"Voir!" Gardevoir cried happily. On the plate were two pieces of toast with a small mixture of strawberry and grape jam on each piece. Gardevoir's love for fruits and berries was quite obvious. She tried the jams Brennan had in his fridge one of the first mornings she was there and instantly fell in love with it. Since then, every time Brennan makes toast for breakfast, Gardevoir has to have jam on it.

Brennan sat the plate down in front of Gardevoir, she smiled a wide smile up at him.

"Enjoy, ma'am." Brennan replied, in a fake Italian-waiter accent, as he bowed. Gardevoir giggled again.

The two were interrupted when Blaziken tiredly walked into the room, scratching the back of his neck.

"Hey, don't fill up too much. We're meeting Luna and Lane for lunch in a couple of hours." Brennan said. Blaziken ignored him as he walked past him and made his way to the fridge.

Both Brennan and Gardevoir watched as Blaziken opened the fridge and dug through it for several seconds, before pulling out the milk.

As Brennan watched his Pokémon pour himself a bowl of cereal, he once again couldn't help but think back to what had happened the previous night. He hadn't told any of his other Pokémon about what had happened. He didn't want to worry them over a falling out that was realistically his fault to begin with.

After Blaziken had his cereal poured, he walked out of the kitchen without even saying a word. Gardevoir could easily sense the hostility between the two. She started growing very worried, and Brennan could sense it.

He turned to face Gardevoir, and saw the worried expression on her face.

"It's okay, Gardevoir. It's nothing that we won't be able to work out." Brennan said with a smile, trying to ease her worries.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde?" Gardevoir asked.

"We just had a slight... disagreement. He'll get over it. Everything is okay." Brennan replied, before softly patting Gardevoir on the head. She lightly blushed, before looking back down at her jammed up toast.

Gardevoir didn't know exactly what happened. But she did realize that whatever it was, is what probably led to Blaziken ditching Brennan and coming home without him last night.

She wasn't one to be nosy, but she knew Brennan was upset about it, and she didn't like seeing him upset. He was too nice of a guy to be upset. He didn't deserve it. She frowned when the thought of Blaziken making him upset ran through her mind.

She knew Blaziken didn't like her. It's not like he tried to hide his feelings either. For the most part, she tried to ignore him like he did her. But realizing that he was at fault for Brennan being upset didn't sit well with her.

Gardevoir watched as Brennan made his way back over to the toaster to make himself some toast. She could still sense his feelings. He obviously wasn't as happy as he usually was, so whatever happened between him and Blaziken was really bothering him.

Brennan stood there waiting for his toast to pop up. Unbeknownst that Gardevoir was watching him. Of course this whole thing with Blaziken was bothering him, and it was going to until they made up. But, again, he didn't want to worry the others, so he knew he was going to have to pretend that everything was great... even though it wasn't.

Once Brennan's toast popped up, he threw the two pieces on his plate and quickly smeared some butter on them. Gardevoir watched him as he did.

She wanted to make him feel better, or at least she wanted to try. She got up and quickly floated towards him. Brennan turned around just as she collided into him, wrapping her arms around him. She was trying to be as cautious with her spike as she possibly could, so she wasn't able to get as close as she would have liked.

Brennan was somewhat surprised. He had almost dropped his plate when she tackled him, but he managed to hold onto it.

"A-are you okay, Gardevoir?" Brennan asked.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir replied, softly, as she continued to hug him. Luckily for her, he couldn't see the blush that had formed on her face.

Even though it made her quite nervous to hug and be this close to Brennan, not like anything has stopped her before, she knew that when she hugged him, it always put a smile on his face. So she was hoping it would this time.

As Brennan and Gardevoir stood there locked in their embrace, Gardevoir could sense Brennan's sadness diminishing. She was very happy about that. Her blush faded and a more relaxed smile formed on her face.

•••

•••

•••

The group had finally started their walk into the city. They were all pretty excited to be able to spend another day out. Brennan's Pokémon always enjoyed days like these.

Gardevoir had been pretty excited too, but the closer and closer they got into the city, the more nervous and reluctant she grew.

Brennan could feel her nervousness. He looked over and saw that she had fallen behind a little, so he slowed down so he could catch back up to her.

"Gardevoir, what's wrong?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir looked at him, and with the look in her eyes, it was very apparent that something was wrong.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Voir. Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied. Brennan assumed it had something to do with the trainers and their Pokémon. They were plentiful in the city, and after the way they were eyed on their way out of the city a few weeks ago, Brennan knew Gardevoir was worried they were going to do the same thing again.

"Hey, it'll be okay. Just don't pay any mind to them. I figure the only reason they would be staring anyway is because you're so special. And that's not a bad thing either." Brennan said, a small smile on his face as he did. Gardevoir blushed a deep shade of red and looked away in embarrassment as he did.

Brennan just called her special. But was she though? She enjoyed hearing it from him because it was a compliment. But she just didn't feel special. She felt... different.

"And don't worry, if anyone has anything to say, we'll be there to take care of it." Brennan said, as he motioned around at his group of Pokémon. "And I'm sure Luna, Lane, and their Pokémon would be of assistance if need be, too." He continued. This made Gardevoir fell a little better. She knew very well that Brennan and his Pokémon wouldn't let anything happen to her. She wasn't so much scared of what she was about to encounter in the city, she was more... uncomfortable with it.

Gardevoir finally looked back over at Brennan- her blush have faded away at this point. She was still worried, and Brennan could tell. He gave her a reassuring smile, before taking one of her three-fingered hands into his. This surprised her. She looked down at their now intertwined fingers, before looking back up at Brennan.

Brennan knew that holding her hand is what comforted her enough to get her through the city the first time. He knew it was something that relaxed her, and that was something that she needed at that moment.

"Like I said, there's nothing to worry about." Brennan said in a voice that matched his smile. That smile of his always made things better to Gardevoir. It was especially helping her at this current moment. A small smile finally made its way onto Gardevoir's face, as she clasped her hand shut, finally taking hold of Brennan's.

"Gardevoir. Garde." She said, in a low, yet thankful tone. Brennan gave her a single nod, his small smile showing no signs of going away.

"You're welcome, Gardevoir." He replied.

Blaziken looked back at the two as they walked and talked. He saw the smiles and the hand holding. He huffed and shook his head, before looking forward once again.

Machamp, who had been walking next to him, heard the huff. He looked over and saw the look of disgust on his face.

"Machamp?" Machamp asked.

"Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken replied, as he pointed behind himself towards Brennan and Gardevoir. Machamp looked back and saw the two holding hands, but didn't think it was a big deal.

"Champ." Machamp said, shrugging as he did. Blaziken shook his head, before looking straight again. Machamp was confused. He didn't know why what Brennan and Gardevoir were doing bothered him so much.

"City isn't much further, guys." Brennan said, getting his Pokémon's attention.

Machamp looked back at his trainer and nodded, before looking back at Blaziken. He knew something was wrong, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it. But that was going to have to wait. Ruining the day for the others was the last thing he wanted to do, so he decided that trying to get information out of Blaziken was going to have to wait. He just hoped that whatever was going on, didn't end up ruining something.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan's group had arrived in the city. Gardevoir had stayed pretty close to Brennan so far. Of course they were getting looks from other trainers', but Brennan told her to ignore them.

They headed towards the small diner that Brennan agreed to meet Luna and Lane at, and of course, they were already waiting. They didn't make it far, before Luna spotted them.

"Oh, hey guys!" She exclaimed, excitedly, before quickly making her way over to the group.

Once she reached the group, she hugged Brennan first, causing him to finally let go of Gardevoir's hand. Gardevoir stood there staring at the two, a frown forming as a hint of jealousy ran through her. She liked Luna, and she knew her and Brennan were nothing more than friends. But seeing another girl hug him like that made her mad. She knew it shouldn't, but it did.

Luna broke the hug, a smile on her face. She looked over at Gardevoir next, before giving her a wave.

"Gardevoir, hey! I'm glad you agreed to come hang out with us today." She said. Gardevoir gave her a small smile, before nodding.

"She's been excited about it all week." Brennan said, a light chuckle escaping afterwards. Gardevoir looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"That's great! Delphox and I have been really excited, too!" Luna said, happily.

Blaziken, who had had his back turned to the group, turned around at the mention of Delphox. He looked past Luna towards the entrance of the diner where Lane, Greninja, and Delpox stood. Delphox had been staring at him the whole time, waiting for him to turn around. And when he did, she gave him a seduction-laced smile, before winking at him. Blaziken turned bright red, before looking away.

"So, how's about we get to that lunch?!" Luna said, curiously.

"Sure. Lets do it." Brennan replied, nodding as he did.

"Cool! So, this diner is still relatively new. But, the reason I suggested we eat here is because it is a Pokémon friendly diner. So, they will allow all of our Pokémon in there to eat with us." Luna explained.

"Wow. Great choice in restaurant then." Brennan said, as he, his Pokémon, and Luna started their walk over towards Lane. "So, are you guys letting your other Pokémon out, or is it just going to be Delphox and Greninja joining us?" He asked.

More Pokémon? That made Gardevoir somewhat nervous. The only thing that she could think of was more Pokémon to judge her. She was already having to deal with enough of that just by the people they were passing by. She didn't want to worry about having to deal with anymore.

"That's actually a good idea! I'm sure the others would love to join us!" Luna exclaimed. Gardevoir instantly started to grow more nervous and uncomfortable than before. Luna grabbed her Poké balls off of her belt and was getting ready to release them, when she was stopped.

"Uh... Luna, don't you think going in there with eighteen Pokémon is a little excessive?" Lane asked. Luna shook her head.

"No. Why would it be?" She asked.

"Because... that's a lot of Pokémon." Lane replied.

"It shouldn't be too big of a deal. This place kinda looks like a Pokémon center anyways." Brennan said, as he looked up at the building in front of them.

For being a diner, it was a pretty large building. It wasn't as big as a Pokémon center, considering it didn't have rooms you could rent. But it was quite large. Brennan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and placed them against one of the large tinted windows so he could see inside. There were plenty of Pokémon in there. Booths and tables were filled with trainers, their teams, and their friends. One table had two trainers and at least ten Pokémon. That pretty much answered their question.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine." Brennan said, as he turned back towards the group behind him. "There's all kinds of Pokémon out in there." He continued, pointing his thumb over his shoulder back towards the window.

"I don't know about you, but I'm letting my Pokémon join us." Luna said, before smiling. "Come on out girls!" She continued, happily, as she threw all five Poké balls up into the air. Five red flashes with five matching swooshing sounds filled the air, as Luna's Pokémon were released from their balls.

Marill, Delcatty, Spinda, Ninetails, and Beautifly stood or floated in front of Luna, all making some kind of happy cry as they did.

"Hey guys, I want you all to meet someone-" Luna said, before motioning over to Gardevoir, who was halfway hiding behind Brennan at this point. "-This is Gardevoir. She's a new friend of Brennan." She continued. Gardevoir stayed where she was. She was worried about what they would think of her.

"It's okay, Gardevoir. I've known these guys a long time. They're good." Brennan said, looking over towards Gardevoir. She looked up at him, she was still a little unsure. Brennan could clearly see the uncomfortable-worry in her eyes, so he gave her a reassuring smile and a single nod.

There was that smile again. It reassured Gardevoir and made her feel more relaxed when he would give her one. She finally returned the nod, before slowly stepping out from behind him so the others could get a better view of her. All of Luna's Pokémon let out more happy cries when they saw her. It was their way of saying hello.

Gardevoir blushed in embarrassment at the surprising greeting she got from Luna's Pokémon.

"See, Gardevoir! They like you already." Luna said, before letting out a giggle. "Lane, are you going to let your Pokémon out?" She asked. Lane looked around at the group, before looking over at Greninja.

"What do you think?" He said curiously. Greninja shrugged in response. Lane finally shrugged. "Alright." He said, before grabbing his five Poké balls off of his belt. He threw them all up in the air, five swooshes and five red flashes filled the air, as Lane's Pokémon were released.

More Pokémon? Gardevoir was nervous again. But surprisingly not as nervous as before. If Lane's Pokémon were as nice as Luna's, this would be okay.

"Uh... first things first. Guys, this is Brennan's newest team member, Gardevoir." Lane said, as he motioned to Gardevoir.

Lane's Pokémon, Swampert, Nuzleaf, Alakazam, Duskull, Aggron all stood there staring at Gardevoir. Hearts formed in both Alakazam and Aggron's eyes as they stared at her. They both walked over to her, as if they were in a trance.

The closer they got to her, the more uncomfortable she got and the more she moved back behind Brennan. Lane saw how uncomfortable they were making her, so he called them off.

"Hey, guys. Back off. Give the lady some space, will ya?" Lane said, breaking the two love struck Pokémon from their trances.

They backed off, but not before each giving her a wink. After they winked, they both noticed that the other had winked at her too. They both instantly glared at each other, before letting out light growls.

"Enough. I'm starving. Lets go and grab a bite to eat." Lane said, as he pushed his two Pokémon apart.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Luna exclaimed. "Lets go!" She continued as she headed for the door, motioning her Pokémon to follow.

Lane and his Pokémon followed her, followed by Brennan's Pokémon. Which included the still angry Blaziken.

Gardevoir and Brennan were last to head in. Brennan looked at Gardevoir and saw how uncomfortable Aggron and Alakazam had made her.

"It's okay. Don't worry about them. They've probably never seen a Pokémon as pretty as you before." Brennan theorized. Gardevoir blushed a deep shade of red yet again. "Come on, the others are waiting." He continued, his small smile had remained on his face the whole time. Gardevoir barley nodded, as she followed behind.


	12. Chapter 12

Brennan and Gardevoir had joined the others inside of the diner. It was the first time Brennan had been in there, and he had to say, it was already becoming one of his favorite places. He had pretty much already decided that this was going to be a new frequently visited location. He was a huge fan of Pokémon friendly places that allowed him to have all of his Pokémon out with him. It just made him feel like less of a jerk when he had to return three or four of them to their Poké balls while the other one had fun.

As the large group stood in the door way, a young brunette waitress walked up. She was carrying a notepad and had a large, friendly smile displayed on her face.

"Welcome to Slateport City's newest Pokémon diner! I see you have a large party today. Would you like a table, or a large booth?" The waitress asked. Brennan glanced down at her name tag, so he could see her name. On the white name tag was 'Clair' written in bold black letters.

"A table is fine." Luna replied, just as kindly as the waitress. Clair smiled and nodded.

"Alright, follow me to your table." She said. The group followed Clair through the busy diner, passing tables full of chattering trainers' and their happy Pokémon. Eventually, they reached a large table on the complete other side of the room from where they had been. It was a table that was obviously there for parties or special occasions, because no average group of people wanting to grab a quick bite to eat needed a table that was long enough to seat ten people on each side of it.

Gardevoir was just as interested in the large table as Brennan was. She hadn't been to many places in her life, but she had never seen a table so large before.

"Here you are." Clair said, as she motioned to the table. "Here are some menus. I'm going to have to go to the back and get some more for your Pokémon." She continued. As she did, Lane waved her off.

"No, it's fine. These menus are more than enough." He said.

"Are you sure? Because I can go get some more." Clair said. Lane nodded.

"Yes. Thank you for your offer though." He replied, a grateful tone in his voice. Clair's smile returned, as she gave a nod.

"Okay then. Now, for drinks. What would you like?" She asked, as she readied to write down the large amount of drinks.

"Water. Plenty of water is perfect." Brennan spoke up for the group. He knew how much of a hassle taking special orders for eighteen Pokémon and three trainers was going to be for this waitress. He didn't want to make things more complicated for her than they were already going to be. Clair flashed him a smile as she jotted it down on her notepad.

"Okay! Take your time looking over the menus. I will be back shortly with your drinks." She said, before walking off, leaving the group to settle in.

"Now, everyone pick a seat, because there will be no seat jumping." Lane said, as he looked around at the large group.

Gardevoir had planned on sitting next to Brennan. Brennan figured she would. He went to go pull a chair out for her, when Aggron and Alakazam came running up, ramming into him, and knocking him to the floor. They both grabbed the chair he was trying to pull out for Gardevoir, and fought to try and get it out of the others grasp.

Gardevoir gasped in surprise, before lowering herself down onto her knees next to him. Brennan sat on the floor, trying to shake the sudden dizziness off.

Aggron finally managed to yank the chair out of Alakazam's hands, before pulling it out and smiling at Gardevoir. Gardevoir looked up at the two clearly not amused with them.

"Brennan, are you okay?" Luna asked, as she made her way over to the downed trainer. Brennan nodded.

"Yeah, just... caught me off guard." He replied. Lane was very annoyed with his two Pokémon at that moment.

"Hey, that wasn't cool. I want you guys both to-" Lane started, before being interrupted.

"Gardevoir! Garde! Gardevoir! Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde!" Gardevoir yelled at the two, as she stood back up. She was furious. She was more furious than uncomfortable with them at this point. Not only were Alakazam and Aggron surprised, but all of the others were too. Especially Brennan.

Gardevoir stood there staring at the two misbehaving Pokémon with the most angry expression on her face possible. She was so mad, Brennan could easily sense just a small amount of how mad she actually was.

Lane finally managed to shake off some of the shock, looking around at the dozens and dozens of pairs of eyes now staring in their direction. No one else had moved. Everyone else was still staring at the angry Gardevoir in shock.

Aggron and Alakazam were still taken aback by what just happened. They slowly looked towards each, shocked looks and all, before once again glaring at each other. That's when Lane stepped in.

"Go sit down, NOW!" Lane said sternly, as he pointed towards two chairs. Aggron and Alakazam listened. They made their way towards the two chairs and sat down in them. Aggron's chair was a little bigger than the others, but was still a little too small for him. Gardevoir's angry expression followed them all the way to their seats. She didn't look away until several seconds after they had sat down.

Gardevoir finally turned away from the pair. She turned around and looked back at Brennan, who was still sitting on the floor in complete disbelief that that just happened. Gardevoir's expression softened, as she floated back over to him and got back down on her knees.

"Gardevoir. Garde?" Gardevoir asked. Brennan sat in silence for several seconds as he stared at her.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Gardevoir." He finally replied. Gardevoir stood up extending her hand, a small smile returning to her face. Brennan grabbed ahold of it allowing Gardevoir to pull him to his feet. "Thank you." He thanked her.

"Gardevoir. Voir." She replied with a single nod. Once he got back to his feet, Brennan looked around at all the eyes still staring at the large group. He figured he had to do something, considering Gardevoir was his responsibility.

"S-so, uh... I apologize for that. She was just... getting a couple of my friend's Pokémon to calm down. So... everyone can go back to their meals now." Brennan said nervously, as he continued to look around. Of course nobody said anything.

Brennan turned his attention back to the rest of the group, who was still standing around.

"Um... lets all sit down and take a breather. Everything is okay now, right Aggron? Alakazam?" Luna asked, in a very serious tone. Both Pokémon nodded at her. "Okay! Now, how's about we enjoy our lunch?" She continued, her usual cheery tone returning.

"Yeah, I like that idea." Lane said, walking over to his seat and taking it. The others followed suit.

Brennan once again pulled a chair out for Gardevoir. She flashed him a smile before sitting in it. He pushed her chair in, before taking his own seat next to her. Awkward silence filled the table for several seconds, before Luna spoke up.

"Oh, here comes Clair with our drinks!" Luna said happily. Clair smiled as she approached the table with a tray full of cups and small drinking bowls.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, once she finally reached the table. Luna smiled and nodded.

"Yes, ma'am. Just a couple of Pokémon acting like little kids." She replied, glancing over at Alakazam and Aggron as she did. Clair politely smiled and nodded, not wanting to push on someone else's business. After, she went around the table giving everyone a cup, if they had posable thumbs and could pick one up, or a bowl, if they didn't. After everyone had their proper drink wear, Clair went around the table with a large pitcher of water and started filling them up.

After the cups and bowls were filled up, Clair sat the pitcher down on the table and pulled out her small notepad. Lane saw this and knew they hadn't even gotten to look at the menus yet.

"We're going to need a few more minutes to decide what we want." Lane said, getting Clair's attention.

"That's perfectly okay. Take your time. Just let me know when you're ready." Clair said. Lane gave her a smile and a single nod.

"Will do. Thank you." He said.

"Not a problem." Clair said, before walking away, leaving the group to look over the menu.

The menus were placed at the far end of the table close to where Lane and Luna were sitting. Brennan had decided to sit further down from them so he would be closer to his Pokémon. He soon realized he couldn't reach the menus.

"Hey, Luna, will you pass me a-" Brennan started, before stopping when one of the menus started levitating towards him. He looked over at Gardevoir, who was using her psychokinetic move to bring one to him. She had sensed that a menu was what he was going to ask for, so she wanted to get him one. "-menu." He finished, staring at the menu as it lowered down onto the table in front of him. Once it landed, Brennan looked back at Gardevoir, who had a small smile on her face. He returned the smile. "Thank you, Gardevoir." He said.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied, looking away in embarrassment once she realized all eyes were currently on her.

"No need to be embarrassed. That was amazing, Gardevoir." Luna said cheerfully, trying to make the Pokémon feel less embarrassed.

"Delphox." Delphox agreed with her trainer. Blaziken, who was sat next to Delphox, crossed his arms and looked away. Refusing to take part in any commending towards Gardevoir.

Brennan gave her a soft pat on the back, getting her to look at him, before quickly looking down towards her lap. A blush once again taking over her face.

The praise she was getting for doing something as simple as using one of her moves to get a menu for Brennan was surprising. She knew they didn't have to make as big of a deal out of it as they were, but she actually enjoyed it. Even though having everyone's attention on her made her feel a bit embarrassed.

"Alright, alright. Everyone look over the menu and decide what you want to eat. We can't keep Clair waiting forever." Brennan said, sensing Gardevoir's embarrassment. He wanted to get some of the attention off of her, hoping it would relax her a little bit.

"He's right! And the longer we're here, the less time there's going to be for shopping!" Luna said.

Everyone had turned their attention to Luna. When they did, Gardevoir looked over at Brennan, a thankful look in her eyes. Brennan gave her a smile and a wink, letting her know that he has her back. The blush that had just faded, quickly returned as Gardevoir looked down towards the table in front of her.

•••

•••

•••

The two men dressed in black were currently walking through Slateport City looking for their target. They took their bosses threat very seriously and knew they couldn't show back up empty handed again.

Neither one of them had seen any sign whatsoever of the Pokémon they were looking for. The forest where they were told she would be ended up leading to a dead end. Even with a full search team, they still couldn't find her.

Both men were starting to get very frustrated. When they were first given the lead on this assignment, they took it as an opportunity to impress their boss. He was someone that was very hard to impress. This was big for them and they couldn't mess this up or else they wouldn't be trusted to do anything this big ever again.

"We've been walking around for an hour and I still don't see anything." Simon, the shorter of the two men said. He was a somewhat averaged built, spiky haired-blonde. He wore his team's all black uniform with their logo imprinted on the back and a nice scar above his left eye from an attack at the hands of a wild Absol that he may or may not have attacked to try and catch. His efforts didn't work out in his favor, however, and he ended up almost blind in his left eye.

"Shut up and keep looking. You heard what the boss said. If we don't find this damn Pokémon, there are going to be repercussions. And I don't want to deal with repercussions." Nelson, the slightly taller and more masculine, long haired- brunette man said. Nelson wore his all black team uniform, with the hood on the back of his jacket pulled up over his head.

Their matching jackets had the team's logo on the back of each, a pile of greyed out, cracked Poké balls, with a giant 'S' in a grimy-font dirty gold colored letter faded behind them. They were just two of many members of a very villainous team that, for the most part, stayed pretty secretive about what they were doing. People knew about them, and they didn't trust them.

Nelson and Simon walked past multiple people and Pokémon, who were giving them the stink eye. A small, amused smirk grew on Nelson's face. He took pride in what his team did. He didn't care what any of these people thought. Simon had his hands shoved down into his pockets, as he continued to look around. He was ignoring the passerby' as they walked. He was more focused on finding the Pokémon that his boss had sent them out for.

"The damn thing could be anywhere. Maybe we should split up and check out some of these shops. Maybe she wandered into one of them." Simon said. Nelson glanced at him and shook his head.

"Now why in the hell would a wild Pokémon that lives in the forest wander into a shop in the city?" He asked, clearly annoyed by Simon's thinking. Simon shrugged.

"I don't know. It happens. And besides, we've been wandering the streets so long that if she was out here, we would have found her by now." He replied. Nelson growled knowing that Simon was right.

"Fine. But she better be in one of these buildings or I'm telling boss it's your fault that we didn't find her." Nelson said in a threatening tone.

"It doesn't matter what you tell, he'll have your head on the spike right next to mine." Simon said, knowing full well that they didn't find that Pokémon, they were both going to suffer the consequences. Even if one of them tried to put all of the blame on the other. "You take the buildings on the east side of the city, I'll take the buildings on the west side of the city." He continued.

"Fine. Let me know if you find her. The last thing I need is for you to find her and mess things up so she gets away." Nelson said.

"Fine. Whatever." Simon replied, not at all amused by Nelson's current attitude towards him. Nelson turned and started walking in the other direction, not bothering to say anything else as he did. Simon stood there staring at all the people as they walked down the busy streets.

•••

•••

•••

After the whole yelling incident involving Gardevoir, Aggron, and Alakazam, lunch went on like normal. For the most part at least. They still had to put up with a few stares from guests who were very clearly talking about them, but they tried not to let it bother them. They didn't want it to ruin their day.

They had ended up spending a lot more on lunch than they had originally planned to, but considering they didn't do this too often, they didn't really mind.

The large group had exited the diner and was now walking down the busy, city streets, taking in all of the stores they were soon going to be shopping in.

Neither Brennan nor Lane really had any interest in shopping, but the girls did so they were going to go along with it.

"So what's Frankie up to?" Brennan asked, walking alongside line at the tail end of their large group.

"Captain Stern called him into work to help clean up some mess that some punks made at the museum." Lane replied, as he walked along side of him.

Frankie worked at Slateport City's Oceanic Museum, that was curated by the famous Captain Stern. Brennan lived in Slateport for almost a full year before he was able to meet Captain Stern. He was an oceanographer, so he majored in aquatic-water type Pokémon. Brennan wanted to battle him. He knew Stern was the man to beat in Slateport since they didn't have their own gym.

"Well, that sucks." Brennan said. Lane nodded.

"Destruction to something like the museum is a disgrace. I just hope those punks that did it don't get away with it." He replied.

"Oh! I know where we're stopping first!" Luna exclaimed, getting the boys attention. "This little shop right here is great for finding deals on cute little outfits!" She continued, pointing to a small shop up ahead called 'Rue 22'.

Luna looked over at the group of girls, and Blaziken, who was being dragged along by Delphox. They all let out small, happy cries in response. Luna looked back and saw that both Brennan and Lane had fallen behind. She quickly made her way to the back of the group and grabbed their wrists.

"C'mon, slow pokes! You're going to get left behind." Luna said, dragging the two guys closer to the group.

"Like that would be a bad thing?" Lane muttered jokingly, glancing over at Brennan as he did. Brennan let out a little chuckle. Luna, who wasn't deaf, heard his joke.

"Keep making jokes like that and I won't be buying that outfit that you've been wanting to see me in." Luna said. Lane's laughing immediately ceased as he looked over at his girlfriend. Brennan broke out into laughter. Luna had a proud smile on her face, not even bothering to look back at Lane.

Gardevoir, who had been up towards the front of the group with Luna's Pokémon, fell back so she would be with Brennan again. When Brennan finally caught up to her, he gave her a small smile.

"You don't have to wait for me, Gardevoir. I won't get left behind." Brennan said. Gardevoir nodded.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir." She replied. She knew she didn't have to wait, she wanted to. She enjoyed being around Luna's Pokémon. It gave her more girls to interact with. But she would much rather be around Brennan.

Luna had finally let go of Brennan's wrist, but kept hold of Lane's as she pulled him towards the front. Lane looked back at Brennan with a defeated look on his face, as he was dragged ahead by his girlfriend. Brennan let out a little chuckle as he watched. Gardevoir looked at Brennan, before glancing back at Lane.

"Those two are always a joy to be around." Brennan said jokingly, as he glanced back at Gardevoir. She smiled and nodded.

The group had finally reached the outside of the store. Luna turned to face everyone, a smile on her face.

"Girls, it's time to go shopping!" She exclaimed excitedly. All of the females let out happy cries in response. "Come on, Gardevoir. We're going to get you some cute clothes!" She said, as she turned her attention to Gardevoir.

Gardevoir was excited about this. She was actually going to have more clothes than just her dress and the t-shirt and shorts Brennan gave her to sleep in. Even though she loved her sleeping clothes. She turned and looked at Brennan, she wanted him to come in with her.

"Gardevoir. Voir?" She asked. Brennan could sense that she wanted him to do something. He assumed she wanted him to go into the store with her.

"Yeah, of course I'll come in." He replied. Gardevoir smiled as she took hold of his hand and started walking him towards Luna's group as they entered the store.

It wasn't the fanciest store Luna planned on taking the group to, but Gardevoir was at a loss for words. This was the first store she had been into.

Gardevoir stopped moving and floated in a single spot, looking around the store in awe. There were clothes everywhere. More than she had ever seen before.

As Gardevoir floated there, Luna and her Pokémon scattered and started looking around. Delphox had continued to drag Blaziken along with her. He had showed absolutely zero signs of resistance.

"Oh, Gardevoir, come here!" Luna said, as she motioned Gardevoir over. Breaking her from her thoughts, Gardevoir looked over at Brennan, who was already looking at her.

"It's okay. I'll follow you." He said, as he motioned Gardevoir to go. She nodded, before once again moving forward. Brennan followed her, as they approached Luna.

"Look at this. I think it would look sooooo cute on you!" Luna said happily, as she showed Gardevoir a thin mint green throw over jacket. It wasn't the kind of jacket to be worn on a cold day, it was more of a fashion statement than anything. "Here, try it on." She said, as she held the jacket up.

Gardevoir stared at the jacket for several seconds, before finally sliding her arms into the sleeves. It was like a perfect fit for her; that surprised Brennan.

"So... what do you think?" Luna asked, waiting for Gardevoir's feedback. Gardevoir looked down at the jacket, trying to take in all of the details. She did like it. But the simple fact alone that she was actually in a store trying on clothes made her love it even more.

She looked at Brennan, wanting to hear what he thought about it. Brennan smiled and gave her a few nods.

"It looks good on you, Gardevoir." He said, knowing full well that Gardevoir wanted him to say something. Gardevoir slightly blushed, before looking back at Luna.

"Gardevoir." Gardevoir said happily, as she slightly pulled on the top of the jacket.

"Yay! We found you your first item of the day!" Luna said happily, as she clasped her hands together in front of her. She was just as excited about this as Gardevoir was. She was going to go out of her way to make sure Gardevoir has a really good day. And finding her a bunch of new clothes wasn't going to hurt either.

•••

•••

•••

Lane had been standing outside with the slew of Pokémon that didn't follow the others in. He was leaned up against a tree that stood in a small grassy area that separated the two sides of the streets. It was convenient, too because it was right across from the entrance of the store that the others had gone in.

He stood there with his eyes closed, taking in the cool summer breeze that ran through his hair. He didn't know how long he had been out there so far, or how long he had to wait. But, knowing his girlfriend, it could be awhile. He wasn't in any hurry, though. He knew Luna was excited for this, so he didn't mind waiting. Seeing her happy was all that really mattered to him.

"Aggron!" Aggron exclaimed, causing Lane to open one of his eyes so he could see what was going on.

"Ala-Kazam!" Alakazam yelled back, as he stepped up to Aggron. Lane sighed in annoyance as he shook his head.

"Hey! Knock it off, you two, or you can spend the rest of the day in your Poké balls." Lane said, fed up with his Pokémon's behavior. Both Pokémon whined and pointed at each other in response. Lane replied to the two Pokémon with the most serious expression on his face as possible. That told the two Pokémon to shut it.

Once they did, Lane shook his head and looked over at Machamp, who stood next to him with his four arms crossed.

"It's like dealing with children." Lane said.

"Champ." Machamp said, as he nodded along.

•••

•••

•••

After being in the store for almost an hour, the group finally reached the register. Brennan slowly walked up to it, not able to see over the mountain of clothes Gardevoir and Luna had picked out. He heaved the large pile up, before dropping it down onto the counter. After which, he took a deep breath.

"Thanks for being such a dear." Luna said, as she playfully pinched Brennan's cheek. He quickly receded, and gave her an annoyed look.

"No one pinches the cheeks." Brennan said, as he rubbed his cheeks. Gardevoir ignored what he said and pinched one of his cheeks. Brennan didn't pull away, but he did turn his annoyed look from Luna, to Gardevoir. Both females giggled at Brennan's reaction. Seeing the two females getting so much enjoyment out of something so stupid made his expression soften. He couldn't help but let out a little chuckle himself.

"Delphox." Delphox said, getting the small group's attention. They all turned towards Delphox, who was waking up to the counter, with Blaziken slowly following behind. His bent knees shaked, as he carried Delphox's large pile of clothes towards the counter.

"Wow. Guess she's more of a heavy shopper than you." Brennan said jokingly, towards Luna.

"She may be. But I'm so proud of her for it." Luna replied, a proud smile making its way onto her face. Brennan smiled, but rolled his eyes.

Seeing Blaziken's struggle, Gardevoir used her psychokinesis to lift the heavy pile of clothes out of his arms, and set it down on the counter. Blaziken was surprised at first, not knowing what exactly happened. But his surprise soon wore off, when he saw Gardevoir look at him. He glared at her.

"Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken." Blaziken said, clearly annoyed with Gardevoir's actions. He didn't need her help. He didn't ask for it, and he sure as heck didn't want it. Gardevoir didn't say a word, instead rolling her eyes and looking away from him. Both Delphox and Luna could sense the hostility in Blaziken's voice when he spoke to Gardevoir. Neither one of them was sure what was going on. Brennan stood in silence, shaking his head at Blaziken. Blaziken noticed Brennan, and gave him the same look he had previously given Gardevoir, before looking away from him.

After that, awkward silence filled the group the rest of the time they were checking out. No one knew what to say, and no one wanted to say anything.

After they finished checking out, they headed out of the store to meet back up with Lane and the rest of their Pokémon.

Lane pushed himself up off of the tree he was leaning against and approached them. His eyes went wide when he saw the combined number of bags the group was carrying.

"Geez, did you guys buy the whole store?" He asked. Luna shook her head.

"Nope! Just found a bunch of cute things." She replied.

"Or all the cute things..." Lane said, still staring at the bags. Luna ignored his comment.

"So... where to next?" Brennan asked. Luna was obviously their guide today, and he didn't know where she had planned on taking them.

"I've got to run into the mall, which sucks because not everyone can come in with us." Luna said, looking around at all the now disappointed Pokémon.

"I'm still not a fan of those new rules they implemented." Brennan said, as he thought about the malls new set of rules on Pokémon.

"It'll be okay. We can just let everyone back out after you do what you have to do." Lane said. Luna nodded. He was right, but she hated the fact that she was realistically choosing favorites when it came to letting one of her Pokémon stay out with her.

As Luna stood there thinking, Lane pulled one of his Poké balls off of his belt and aimed it at Duskull.

"Duskull, return." He said, as he pressed the small center button. A flash of red was seen and a swish heard, as Duskull was returned to his Poké ball. He looked over at Brennan and Luna, who were now both staring at him. "Hey, it's better to do it now than to wait and it in front of the mall." He said. Luna sighed.

"I guess you're right." She said, before looking towards her Pokémon, a smile returning to her face. "Just because all of you can't come in with us, doesn't mean I'm not going to find all of you lots of cute things to wear!" She said happily, cheering her Pokémon back up. She grabbed a Poké ball off of her belt, and aimed it at Marill. "I'll see you all a little later, girls." She said, before pressing the button, returning Marill to her Poké ball.

One by one both Luna and Lane returned all of their Poké to their balls except for Delphox and Greninja. After they were done, Brennan looked around at his Pokémon.

"Okay, guys. I hate this as much as you do," Brennan started, as he pulled one of his Poké balls off of his belt. "But I can't do anything about it." He said, aiming the Poké ball at Sandslash. "You shouldn't be in there too long, buddy." He said, before returning him to his ball.

Machamp and Roserade, as disappointed as they were, understood why they had to be returned to their balls. But Mightyena, Mightyena's reaction broke his heart. The sad look on his face made Brennan feel guilty, even though he hadn't put him back in his ball yet.

"I promise, it won't be too long." Brennan said, as he kneeled down and patted him on the head. Mightyena gave him a small nod, before being returned to his Poké ball. Brennan said, as he stared at the spot where Mightyena previously stood. Blaziken huffed and looked away, shaking his head in disapproval. Brennan hadn't even noticed his Pokémon's actions.

"So... You hardly ever return them to their balls." Lane said. Brennan nodded, as he stood back up.

"Yeah, it's pretty rare. Mightyena always does that when I put him in his. I guess with as much freedom as he usually has, he just isn't a fan of it." He replied. Gardevoir could sense that Brennan felt bad about returning his Pokémon to their balls. She floated up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked towards her hand, before looking at her.

"Well, now that that's done... lets just... get to the mall." Brennan said, as he heaved up some of the bags of clothes that the girls had just bought. Gardevoir floated behind him, with Luna and Lane walking behind her. Delphox continued to drag Blaziken with her. He was glaring holes through the back of Brennan's head. Greninja trailed behind those two, keeping to himself as usual.

Again, the silence hung for most of the walk, up until Gardevoir saw a poster hanging in one of the stores windows that made her stop. She stopped moving and floated in front of the window, staring at the poster.

Brennan quickly realized that Gardevoir wasn't following him anymore. He stopped, turned around, and saw her staring at something in one of the store windows.

"Hey, Gardevoir, see something?" He asked, as he walked over to her. Gardevoir looked at him, before pointing to the poster. On the poster was a picture of Cynthia, the Pokémon League Champion of the Sinnoh Region. She was modeling for some fancy new clothing line for women.

Luna and Lane walked up to the two to see what was up. They saw them staring at the large poster in front of them.

"Ahh... Cynthia. The things that I would-" Lane started, before being interrupted by Luna clearing her throat. He looked over at her and saw she had her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. He let out a somewhat uncomfortable chuckle, as he scratched the back of his neck. Luna shook her head, before grabbing ahold of Lane's ear and dragging him away.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Lane whined. Luna ignored him.

Brennan looked over at Gardevoir, who seemed to be lost in Cynthia's beauty. A small smile crossed his face, as he looked back up at the poster.

Gardevoir hovered in silence, staring at the large poster. The women on it, Cynthia, she was beautiful. She had to have been the most beautiful women there was. Gardevoir looked down at herself, knowing she would never be able to amount to anything close to Cynthia's beauty.

Brennan started feeling... sad. And he knew it wasn't because of Mightyena and his other Pokémon. This feeling was new. He looked back at Gardevoir, and saw the depressed look on her face. That wasn't there before.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, worry clear in his voice.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied, pointing at the poster again, before motioning down at herself. After which, she closed her eyes and looked down sadly. Brennan sat the bags he was carrying down, before placing a hand on her back.

"Gardevoir..." Brennan started in a very hushed tone. With the simple actions Gardevoir had just done, it was easy for Brennan to tell what she was upset about. "You don't need to look like Cynthia to be beautiful." He said, finally getting her to look up at him. Her beautiful rose red eyes wet with the tears she had been trying to hold back. The sight broke Brennan's heart for the second time that day.

Brennan turned his whole body to face her, before looking around. The busy city streets hadn't calmed down any. They were still crawling with other trainers', most of which had at one point or another stared over at Gardevoir. This made Brennan growl under his breath.

He gently grabbed ahold Gardevoir's shoulders and turned her to face him. She didn't resist at all.

"Gardevoir, you're breaking my heart here." Brennan started, as he gently wiped a single tear off of Gardevoir's cheek as it ran down her face. "Yes, Cynthia is beautiful. But honestly, there's this girl I know that is one hundred times more beautiful than her." He continued, staring Gardevoir right in the eyes as he did.

He didn't specifically say it, but Brennan knew full well that he was talking about Gardevoir. It was weird for him to think these thoughts, but he couldn't help it. Gardevoir is beautiful. He could never admit that to another trainer, but he could tell himself over and over again in his head.

Gardevoir's mouth slightly opened- almost as if she wanted to say something. But she didn't. She was almost certain that the "girl" Brennan was talking about was... her. But she wasn't sure. Deep down she felt that it was, but she just couldn't understand why Brennan would think SHE was beautiful. Let alone more beautiful that Cynthia.

"You don't need to compare your beauty to someone else's. So stop thinking like that, okay?" Brennan said.

"Voir." Gardevoir replied in an almost inaudible whisper. Her cheeks had a slight blush on them from Brennan's earlier remark.

"Good." Brennan said, calming himself down a bit with Gardevoir's response.

"Hey, are you two coming or what?" Luna called from the distance. Brennan turned to face her and saw the other staring at him and Gardevoir. They must have been waiting for them.

"Yeah, we are." Brennan replied, before looking back at Gardevoir. "Come on, ma'lady, we have to catch up." He said, a small smile returning to his face. Gardevoir nodded in response, before the two headed off to rejoin the group.

•••

•••

•••

Simon had been walking along the road, peaking into each building through the window as he went along. He had been ignoring all the muttering and glares he had been receiving as he passed by trainer after trainer.

He and Simon had separated and been hunting in city for close to half an hour now, and neither one of them had found the Pokémon they were after.

There was one point where Nelson called in on his communicator and said some very insulting things to his cohort.

Nelson was frustrated about how much difficulty they had been having finding this Pokémon. But the more he complained about and blamed Simon for their shortcomings so far, the more it pissed Simon off.

Simon and Nelson were mere associates. Nothing more. Neither one of them liked the other. But their boss stuck them together for reasons that neither man still understands.

Simon felt like he was just walking in circles at this point. He had checked most of the buildings on west side of the city like he was supposed to. He felt like this whole ordeal was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

He was thinking that there was a good chance that this Pokémon wasn't even in the city. Maybe it was somewhere entirely different. Maybe it had been captured and taken to an entirely different region. It could have been anywhere at this point.

Simon looked down at the small communicator strapped to his wrist. He was getting ready to call Simon, when he noticed something in distance. Something that he had to take a second glance at.

"It can't be..." He said to himself, as he slowly walked towards what was now in his eyesight.

There it was. The Gardevoir that he and Nelson had been after. It was standing with a man in front of a store. He knew it was the Gardevoir they were after because of the womanly features their boss had told them about.

Simon stood there and watched as the man wiped what he assumed was a tear off of the Gardevoir's face. That's when he realized that man must have been the one to catch her and take her out of the forest. It was his fault that he and Nelson got chewed up by their boss. Simon growled in anger as he turned his attention from the Gardevoir, to the man talking to her.

Without taking his eyes off of the pair, he lifted his communicator up to his mouth and spoke into it.

"Nelson, report." Simon said into the communicator. There was silence for several seconds, before he finally got a response.

"What is it? I'm looking for that damn Pokémon still." Nelson's gruff voice said.

"You can stop looking. I have the Pokémon in my sight." Simon replied. He was still one hundred percent focused on the pair that had been the cause of so much trouble for he and his partner.

"What? Where?" Nelson asked, both relieved and panicked at the same time. Relieved that she had been found, but panicked that Simon was going to do something to screw it all up.

"On the upper west side of the city in front of the store Misty May's about a block away from the mall." Simon replied.

"I'm on my way. Don't do anything stupid. Wait for me to get there." Nelson said sternly.

Simon was getting ready to respond, when he saw the two targets moving again.

"Change of plans. They're on the move." He said. This scared Nelson even more.

"Shit!" Simon heard Nelson say angrily. "Stay on them. Don't lose them, whatever you do. And don't make it seem obvious that you're following them." He said. Simon nodded, as if Nelson could see him.

"Yeah, I'm on it." He replied, before lowering his communicator. He started following behind the pair, making sure to both stay hidden, and keep his distance. The last thing he needed was to get caught.

As he followed, he watched them intently. He watched as they caught up to a larger group. Two trainers, a Blaziken, a Delphox, and a Greninja. This annoyed him. It was obvious they were all together. It was going to make it much more difficult to get the Gardevoir now.

But, regardless of how difficult it may be, they were getting that Gardevoir. They messed up once already, there was no way they were going back to their boss without it. And those three twerpy trainers and their Pokémon weren't going to stop that from happening.


	13. Chapter 13

**To be forewarned, for those of you who are reading for the story itself and not the lemons. There IS a lemon in this chapter. There will be a warning before it starts in nice big bold letters, and then one letting you guys know that it's over just in case you want to skip ahead and skip the lemon.**

 **Also note, this is my first lemon. Feedback on it will be appreciated, so hopefully I can make the next one even better.**

 **There's your warning. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

The group finally reached the mall. As they neared it, Gardevoir took interest in the large fountain that stood in front of it. Sure, it was nothing that she hadn't already seen before. But for some reason, it looked more beautiful now than it did before. And she didn't know why that was.

The fountain was quite large. It was like a giant stone pool. But in the center, on a giant stone pedestal stood stone versions of Latias and Latios. The two Pokémon were adjacent of one another, with a large wave surrounding them.

Brennan glanced over at Gardevoir and saw all of her attention had been placed on the fountain. A small smile crossed his face.

"You know, if you drop a penny in there you can make a wish." Brennan said, getting Gardevoir to look at him and tilt her head in curiosity. Brennan stopped walking and dug his hand into his pocket, fishing around for a loose piece of change.

Gardevoir watched him, as he pulled two pennies out of his pocket and stepped towards the fountain. He looked back at her and motioned her over with his head. She floated next to him and looked into the water. Something she hadn't noticed from the distance were the hundreds of pennies lying on the small blue tiles at the bottom of the fountain.

"Hold out your hand." Brennan said. Gardevoir listened and held out her right hand. Brennan gently sat one of the pennies into it. Gardevoir stared at it, before looking back at Brennan. "Now, all you have to do is toss it in there." He said. Gardevoir nodded, before closing her eyes.

A wish? Before Gardevoir met Brennan, she wished for a lot of things. Gothitelle's return, food to eat that she didn't have to fight for, a warm place to live that wasn't inside of a cave, to somehow become more beautiful. But, after Brennan came into her life, he gave her all of those things. Except Gothitelle, which, he couldn't do anything about.

Brennan took care of her. He cared for her. He made sure she didn't go hungry. He gave her a warm place to live. And... he made her feel beautiful. Gardevoir really didn't feel like there was anything left for her to wish for. Brennan was already in her in life.

Brennan smiled, as he tossed his penny into the fountain. He hadn't noticed that Gardevoir tossed hers at the exact same time. A small smile formed on Gardevoir's face, as she stood there, eyes closed, thinking about how much her life had changed in just the last month.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked over at Brennan, who was just staring into the fountain. He looked over at Gardevoir and saw her staring at him. They couldn't help but just smile at each other.

"Guys lets goooooo!" Luna called from the doorway of the mall. Both Brennan and Gardevoir held eye contact for several more seconds, before finally turning towards the others.

As they made their way towards them, Gardevoir grabbed onto Brennan's hand. He looked over at her and saw the cute, innocent smile on her face that he had really grown to love. He squeezed her hand in response.

Once they finally made it to the group, they started to head into the mall, when Lane stopped them.

"Wait," he started, looking at Brennan. "Brennan, the one Pokémon rule." He said. Brennan had been so caught up in his moment with Gardevoir, he forgot that he technically had two Pokémon out.

"Crap." He muttered in annoyance, before shaking his head. He looked over at Gardevoir, who looked somewhat confused. "The mall has this rule where each trainer is only allowed to have one Pokémon out with them while inside." He explained. Gardevoir nodded in understanding.

Brennan looked up at Blaziken, who immediately went wide eyed. He waved his hands out in front of him, before giving Brennan an annoyed look.

"Blaziken. Blaze." He said, as he shook his head. Delphox immediately stood in front of him, with a somewhat worried expression on her face.

"Don't worry. I'm not putting you in your ball." Brennan said, calming both Pokémon down. Gardevoir let go of Brennan's hand, fearing where he was going with this. Brennan looked back at her, feeling scared as he did. "Hey, you don't have to worry either." He said, trying to ease her worry.

"So what are you going to do?" Lane asked. Brennan thought a minute, before shrugging.

"Nothing." He replied. No one knew what he meant. "They're both well behaved and know how to act in public. If someone wants to throw us out, whatever." He continued, before grabbing back ahold of Gardevoir's hand and walking her to the door. He grabbed the door, and pulled it open, allowing Gardevoir to walk into the mall. "You guys coming?" He asked. Luna and Lane looked at each other, before heading inside.

•••

•••

•••

As the group walked around the large mall, Gardevoir was left in awe at all about everything that was in there. There were more stores in there than she had ever seen before. Most of them being clothes stores that she knew Luna was going to take her to.

Brennan let out a little chuckle as he watched Gardevoir and her childlike excitement. It was cute. He stopped chuckling when he noticed two men standing close by, staring at her and muttering something to each other. His smile turned into a glare, which the two men noticed. They both quickly looked away from them.

The way these people acted towards Gardevoir made Brennan mad. She was out trying to have fun, and these people wouldn't leave her alone. The way they muttered to each other, or stared at her. They made her feel uncomfortable- unwanted, and Brennan hated it.

"Oh, I see our first stop!" Luna exclaimed, as she pointed to the same little boutique that her and Delphox had gone in last time they were all in the mall together. "You're going to love this place, Gardevoir." She said, excitedly, as she looked back at Gardevoir with a smile.

Gardevoir, who was still trying to take in her surroundings, looked at Luna with a smile. She was getting more and more excited about this, and it made Brennan happy seeing her happy.

"Voir." Gardevoir said, happily.

"Lane, if you aren't coming in, can you and Greninja watch our bags?" Luna asked, looking over at her boyfriend and his companion.

"What, all ten thousand of them?" Lane asked sarcastically. Luna rolled her eyes.

"I will take that as a yes." She replied. "We'll try not to take too long." She continued, before turning and headed towards the boutique.

Delphox grabbed the bags that Blaziken had been carrying, and tossed them over to Lane and Greninja's feet, before grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the store.

Brennan looked at Lane and shrugged, before setting his bags down in the pile. After, he turned his attention to Gardevoir, who looked very eager to check the store out.

"After you." He said, motioning for her to go first. She smiled and nodded, before floating ahead. Brennan followed behind her.

Lane and Greninja watched the pair disappear into the store. After they were out of sight, Lane sighed.

"So... how many bags do you think they're going to bring out of here?" He asked.

"Gre-ninja." Greninja replied.

•••

•••

•••

Simon had made his way into the mall and had been following the group around. He was currently sitting on a bench two stores down and on the opposite side of the store that they were currently in. He had a pair of black sunglasses on and was pretending to read a newspaper.

He knew Nelson wanted him to keep watch and not do anything until he got there, but he was trying to think of a quick and easy way to get that Gardevoir. He knew with how extensive the group she was with was, if he didn't think of something, it wasn't going to be easy to do.

He looked down at his watch, wondering where in the hell Nelson was. He was starting to grow very annoyed with his "partner."

He very discreetly looked past his newspaper to see if they had come out of the store yet. They hadn't.

Finally, after sitting there for close to ten minutes, Nelson finally walked up and sat down on the opposite side of the bench.

"Where is it?" Nelson asked, not making any sort of eye contact with Simon.

"She went into that store right over there with a guy, a girl, a Delphox, and a Blaziken. The guy standing outside and that Greninja he has with them are in their group too." Simon explained, still pretending to read through the paper he had in his hands.

"That many people in one group? Christ this is going to be a lot more trouble than its worth." Nelson said in annoyance.

"So here's what I was thinking we could do-" Simon started, before Nelson cut him off.

"-I don't give a damn what you think. My main focus is getting that Gardevoir." Nelson started, before grabbing at one of the Poké balls on his belt. "You can do what you want. But I'm getting this done." He continued.

"Don't do that. You were worried about me doing something to mess everything up. But you're getting ready to attack them in the middle of a busy mall?" Simon said curiously. He seriously did not understand Nelson's way of thinking.

"Yeah, I was worried about you messing something up because you would. Me, on the other hand, actually knows what to do to get things done." Nelson started, glancing over at Simon. "Besides, I'm not worried about a Greninja, or a Blaziken, or a Delphox, or whatever other kind of weak and pathetic Pokémon those runts have. My Pokémon are professionally trained monsters that aren't going to lose to a bunch of weak, pathetic, and mediocre losers." He continued. He sure was full of himself, that's for sure.

"How about turning your ego down for a second, and stop to think about what you would cause if you attacked them right now." Simon said. Nelson didn't seem too amused with what Simon had just said.

"Well, since you obviously know so much more than me, do you have any better ideas?" He asked. The sarcasm very present in his voice.

"Yeah, actually I do have an idea. It may not work, but it's worth a shot." Simon replied. One of the major differences between Simon and Nelson, is that Simon is more of thinking than a 'rush in an attack' kind of guy. At least he is after almost losing an eye the way he did.

"If it may not work, then why the hell should we waste time trying it?" Nelson asked.

"Because, even if it doesn't work, it'll show us how close the Gardevoir is to that trainer she's with. That could be some crucial information we need to know about before we jump in with an attack." Simon replied. Nelson hummed in annoyance. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew Simon was probably on to something. He knew that whatever Simon had planned probably wasn't going to work, but, before they jumped in for the attack, they needed to find out more about this trainer that somehow managed to gain Gardevoir's trust.

"Fine. But, if you fuck this up somehow, I'll kill you before the boss can." Nelson said, in a dark, threatening tone. Simon didn't take too kind to Nelson's threat.

Instead of replying, he stood up and shoved his paper to Nelson's chest.

"Wait here. I'll be back." Simon said, before walking off towards a nearby costume shop. Nelson shook his head when he saw this.

"Fucking idiot." He muttered to himself.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan followed Gardevoir and Luna around the small shop, as they happily looked through everything they could.

His arms were already full of things they had picked out. It was insane how much shopping Luna could do.

"Uh... don't you think this is enough stuff?" Brennan asked in a somewhat joking manner, as he followed the two females over to a rack of clearance tops.

"You can never have enough clothes!" Luna replied, happily. Brennan playfully rolled his eyes in response.

Did he necessarily care for having to carry around a mountain of clothes? No. But, he didn't mind it either. Gardevoir was enjoying herself, and that's all that Brennan really cared about.

He stood there, a small smile on his face, as he watched the two ladies dig through the rack of clothes. Gardevoir was all smiles. She was happy... and Brennan was happy because of that.

"Oh, this is cute, Gardevoir." Luna said, pulling a white shirt, with red going along the top to the shoulders. On the front in black letters is said 'Trainer's Little Troublemaker.' It was obviously a shirt that was supposed to be taken as a joke.

Gardevoir let out a cute little giggle, as she took the shirt from Luna's hands. She looked over at Brennan, showing him the shirt as she did. He let out a little chuckle of his own.

"You're right, it is cute." He said, looking over at Luna, who smiled and nodded.

"Gardevoir, how about you go and try it on, and while you're doing that, I'll look around for another minute. I know you're probably wanting to get out of here." Luna said, looking from Gardevoir, to Brennan.

"It's no big deal, honestly. I'm not in a hurry." Brennan replied.

"Regardless, we should probably move on to the next store anyway, before I spend all of my money." Luna said, letting out a little giggle as she did.

"Well, I mean, you're probably right about that one." Brennan said, jokingly, a small sly grin forming on his face. Luna playfully shoved him in response.

"Quiet you." She said. Brennan chuckled. "Okay, Gardevoir, you can go see if that fits. Let me know." She continued, looking back at Gardevoir. Gardevoir nodded.

"Voir." She replied.

She looked over at Brennan, as Luna went back to looking around. The changing room was in the back of the store, and Gardevoir didn't really feel comfortable going by herself. Luna had been going with her, but this time, she wasn't going to.

"You want me to walk back there with you?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir sheepishly nodded in response. She was slightly embarrassed that she felt so uncomfortable that she even had to ask Brennan to walk back there with her. But at the same time, she didn't. It was a weird in-between feeling for her.

Brennan followed behind Gardevoir as she floated towards the dressing room. As they walked through the store, they passed by Blaziken and Delphox. Brennan noticed that Blaziken still looked less than enthused to being dragged around and forced to carry clothes. But what was funny to him, was that Blaziken hadn't complained yet.

Blaziken looked over and saw Brennan looking at him. He gave him a quick scowl, before looking away. Brennan sighed, before looking straight again. This whole thing with Blaziken was still bothering him. But he still hadn't been able to come up with a way to apologize to him.

Gardevoir stopped floating, when she felt Brennan's sadness again. Brennan, who had been lost in thought, ran into her back, bringing him back down to earth.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gardevoir." Brennan apologized. Gardevoir turned around and shook her head. She had a sad look on her face, and Brennan was wondering why. "What's wrong?" He asked, now feeling even more down.

"Gardevoir. Voir. Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied. With her tone, Brennan could tell she was worried again. He figured she was probably worried about him again. A smile formed on his face. He was trying to reassure Gardevoir that he was okay.

"It's okay, Gardevoir. I promise, alright?" Brennan said. Gardevoir stared at him for several seconds, before nodding. She could tell something was wrong. She knew his smile was just to mask his sadness. So she wanted to do something that would cheer him up. She hated seeing him sad.

Gardevoir turned back around and continued floating towards the changing rooms. She was now determined to come up with a way to make Brennan happy again. Her hug seemed to work this morning, but she wasn't sure if it would work again.

Once they reached the changing rooms, Gardevoir turned back towards Brennan.

"I'll be right out here, don't worry." Brennan assured her. Gardevoir nodded, before heading back inside of the same small room that she had already been in at least a dozen times.

As Gardevoir walked back into the small room, she closed the surprisingly thick door behind her. She hung the shirt on the small hook on the door, before turning around to pull the top of her dress down.

As she did, she saw the long mirror hanging on the wall across from the door. She had to deal with seeing her reflection in it every time she had been in there.

As much as she still disliked her body, she couldn't help but think back to the things Brennan had said outside of that shop. He didn't use her name, but Gardevoir knew that he was talking about her. The more she had thought about it, she decided that he had to have been talking about her. She was beautiful, Brennan had told her so. Brennan's opinion was the only one that mattered to her. No one else's, just Brennan's.

Gardevoir grabbed the top of her dress and gently pulled it down. She did feel a little awkward stripping in such a public place. The fact that she was in a busy mall, with her breasts hanging out made her feel uncomfortable.

Trying to ignore the way she felt, Gardevoir turned back around and grabbed the shirt off of the hook. She put it on, before turning back around to face the mirror. It was a little tight, and definitely brought out her features. But at the same time, her spike was much more cramped than usual. She liked the shirt, but she knew she would have to find a way to allow her spike room to breath.

She turned to her side to get a better look at the way the shirt looked from different angles. She frowned at the way her spike was stretching out the fabric. She felt like her spike did more harm than good. The only thing that she could wear that it didn't ruin was her dress. She shook her head, before pulling the shirt back off and pulling her dress back up.

She grabbed the shirt, before exiting the changing room. Brennan was still standing there waiting like he said he would be. The annoyance Gardevoir had been feeling vanished like it was never there when she saw him.

"So, did it fit?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir looked down at the shirt, before looking back up at him.

"Voir. Gardevoir. Garde." She replied, as she pointed at her spike. Brennan looked down at it, causing Gardevoir to slightly blush with how close it was to her breasts.

"Don't worry. I know how we can take care of that." Brennan said. Gardevoir was unsure what he meant. Brennan could tell she was confused. "It's simple. We cut a hole in the shirt just big enough for your spike to pop through." He explained. Gardevoir was a little unsure. She didn't want to ruin the shirt by cutting it. With the unsure sure look she had, Brennan could tell why she had it. "Don't worry, it won't ruin the shirt. I promise." He said, a reassuring smile in his face. That made Gardevoir feel better. His promises always made her feel better, because he never broke them.

The two made their way back to Luna, who was now closing in on the register.

"So, did it fit?" Luna asked, once she saw two.

"It did. It's just, her spike was giving her some problems, so I'm going to make some adjustments to the shirt." Brennan replied, answering for her.

"Like cutting a whole in it so her spike sticks out?" Luna asked.

"Bingo." Brennan replied.

"That's not a bad idea." Luna said, giving him an approving nod.

"So, is that it?" Brennan asked.

"Yep! Just waiting on Delphox and Blaziken to get up here." Luna replied.

They turned around and saw the pair approaching them. And what little of Blaziken's face they could see, he didn't look too amused with how much stuff he was having to carry.

"Do you need some help with that, Blaziken?" Brennan asked. Blaziken huffed in response, as he approached the counter and dropped everything onto it.

Luna gave Brennan a questioning look, confused as to why Blaziken was acting the way he was. Brennan noticed and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter right now." He replied, knowing exactly why she was giving him that look.

After Blaziken dropped off Delphox's clothes, he walked out of the store, leaving the group standing there watching him as he left. Delphox grew just as confused as Luna had been.

"Delphox?" Delphox asked, looking towards Brennan. Luna had her Pokémon long enough to know she was distressed by this.

"It's okay, Delphox. He probably just needs to be alone for a couple of minutes." Luna said, patting her Pokémon on the back. Delphox pouted. She had been enjoying her time with Blaziken. She was wondering if she had done something wrong.

Without wasting anymore time, she headed for the door. She was going to go find Blaziken.

"Delphox, wait!" Luna called to her Pokémon, but Delphox didn't stop. Luna sighed, watching her Pokémon walk away.

"Hey, ya know what they say, follow your heart." Brennan said, stepping up next to Luna, watching as Delphox exited the store. Luna looked over at him.

"Since when have you been such a romantic?" She asked. Brennan shrugged.

"I don't know. Honestly." He replied. He couldn't help but glance back at Gardevoir as he did. He wasn't sure why he did it though, he just felt he needed to.

Brennan watched as Gardevoir helped the young, overwhelmed cashier organize their insanely large amount of stuff. She was always so thoughtful. She never put herself above anyone else, even if they treated her wrong. She had a heart of gold, and she deserved to be cherished.

"Come on, lets help them." Luna said, breaking Brennan from his thoughts. He nodded, before following her back over to the counter to help the females go through the clothes.

•••

•••

•••

After they managed to sort everything out and get everything paid for, they headed out of the store with their at least two dozen bags.

They walked out and saw Lane and Greninja standing exactly where they left them. Lane went wide eyed when he saw the ludicrous amount of bags in their hands.

"Jeez. Did you guys buy enough stuff?" He asked.

"Nope." Luna replied, knowing full well she was going to annoy her boyfriend with her response.

"Babe, look at this madness. I think you have a shopping problem." Lane said, motioning around at all the bags he and Greninja had already been guarding. Luna took offense to that.

"I do not have a shopping problem. Not all of this stuff is mine." She said, defensively. "There are things for Delphox, Gardevoir, Delcatty, Spinda, Ninetails, Alakazam, Duskull, Aggron, there's a little something for everyone in these bags. I even got a few things for you." She continued, before pouting, crossing her arms, and turning away from him. Lane looked over at Brennan and Gardevoir, who put their hands out in front of them letting him know that this didn't involve them.

Lane sighed before walking up behind his girlfriend and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Look, Luna, I'm sorry. Okay?" Lane said.

"Okay!" Luna exclaimed, her cheerful attitude returning as if it hadn't gone anywhere to begin with. She turned around and wrapped her arms around the confused Lane.

"Wait a minute. Did you just-" Lane started, before being cut off.

"-Yep!" Luna exclaimed. A small smirk grew on Lane's face. He had to admit, the way she got him to walk into that apology was impressive.

"Okay, that was good. But, either way, I mean, you've bought a lot of stuff already. And I'm not trying to offend you or hurt your feelings by saying that." Lane said. Luna sighed.

"No, no. You're right. How about this, I have one more stop to make. After that, I won't buy anything else." She said.

"Okay. I'm curious though, is that one more stop where I think it is?" Lane asked. Luna shrugged, giving Lane her 'playing dumb' look.

"I don't know. Is it?" She said, curiously. A small smirk forming on her face. A grin grew on Lane's face.

Brennan and Gardevoir looked at each other, not knowing what this other place was. But they figured they were about to find out.

"Okay, then lets get going!" Lane exclaimed, now in a hurry to move on.

"Wait, wait. Where are Blaziken and Delphox?" Brennan asked, as he looked around. Luna and Gardevoir quickly joined in.

"Blaziken walked off that way. When Delphox came out, I pointed her in that direction. Oh, and what do you know, that store just so happens to be down there, too, so we can find them on the way." Lane said, pointing the group in the direction of the missing Pokémon. Luna nodded.

"Okay. But you do know you shouldn't have let either one of them leave, right?" She said, curiously.

"Luna, I'm sure they didn't leave the mall. Besides, they know how to take care of themselves." Lane said. Luna was hoping he was right.

The group grabbed their ridiculous number of shopping bags, before heading in the direction Lane pointed in.

•••

•••

•••

Delphox had been walking around the large, busy mall trying to find Blaziken. She didn't know where he could have gotten off to so fast. She knew she shouldn't have left Luna, but she needed to find Blaziken.

She walked around, trying not to go too far away from the store they had just left. She didn't want to worry Luna too much.

She walked around for a good minute and a half, before she finally saw Blaziken leaned against a wall with his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face. He wasn't too far away, so she knew she could get to him. She started to approach him, when a Zoroark walked up and stepped in her way.

He had a seduction filled smirk on his face, as he looked Delphox up and down. He put his paw against the wall they were standing by, playing it as cool as possible.

The Zoroark had his long red and black spiked hair pulled into a ponytail. His black chest and shoulder fur was more spiked out than a normal Zoroark would have it. And his smokey-grey fur was shiny and clean.

Delphox stared at him for several seconds, not knowing what to do. One thing she noticed about him was the armband he was wearing on his right arm. The logo was small, so she couldn't make out what it was with the way he was standing.

"Zoro-ark." He finally spoke. His voice was laced with seduction. It matched the smirk he had on his face. Delphox slightly blushed at the compliment she had received from him. She didn't get flirted with too often, so it kinda felt nice, but at the same time it made her feel slightly uncomfortable. "Zoroark. Zoroark. Zoro?" He sang, before taking Delphox's paw into his and placing a soft kiss on the back of it. Delphox face turned even more red than before.

Brennan, Gardevoir, Lane, Luna, and Greninja had made it to the other side of the mall. As they walked, they saw Blaziken leaned against a wall through the crowed of people.

"There's Blaziken. But Delphox isn't with him." Brennan said. Luna looked in the direction he had pointed to, and noticed the lone Blaziken standing there. She started to grow very worried that Delphox got lost, or something had happened to her.

"I thought you said she went in the same direction as him?!" Luna asked, panic in her voice.

"She did. I promise you she did." Lane said, now a little worried himself.

"It's okay, Luna. Calm down. We'll find her." Brennan said, trying to calm her down. "We'll just go ask Blaziken if he's seen her. Everything will be fine." He continued. Luna's face was still full of worry, but she reluctantly nodded knowing that everything WOULD be fine. Or at least, that's what she kept telling herself.

The group made it through the crowed and approached Blaziken. He had his eyes closed, showing no interest in his surroundings. When he heard footsteps approaching him, he opened his eyes to see who it was.

"Blaziken, have you seen Delphox?" Brennan asked. Blaziken stood there staring at his trainer in silence for several seconds. Brennan shook his head. "Please, Blaziken, we need to know if you've seen her." He pleaded with his Pokémon to tell them.

Blaziken could tell that they were worried with the way Brennan sounded and the way Luna looked. Gardevoir and Lane were trying to ease her worry. He was getting ready to speak, when he noticed something over Brennan's shoulder.

Standing against the wall opposite of them was Delphox, but she wasn't alone. A Zoroark stood there with a paw on the wall and a smirk on his face. He was swooning Delphox. Blaziken growled at the sight. Confused, Brennan turned around to see what he was looking at.

"Uh oh." Brennan said, causing the others to turn around. Blaziken shoved through the group and started storming over the Delphox and Zoroark.

"Blaziken, wait!" Brennan called, trying to stop his Pokémon, but he ignored him.

Blaziken stormed over to the Zoroark, shoved him backwards a few feet, and stepped in between him and Delphox.

"Zoroark?!" Zoroark asked, confused and annoyed by the sudden assault.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze-I-ken." Blaziken said, motioning back at Delphox as he did. Delphox stood behind him, not sure of what to do.

"Zoroark. Zoro." Zoroark said, pointing towards Delphox. Blaziken growled again, before clenching his fists.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaziken!" Blaziken exclaimed, angrily glaring holes through Zoroark. Zoroark stood there glaring right back at Blaziken for several seconds. He looked past him and back at Delphox, flashing her a quick smile, which annoyed Blaziken even more.

"Zoroark. Zoroark." Zoroark said, glancing back at Blaziken. He waved Blaziken off, deciding that he wasn't worth his time, before walking off. Blaziken continued to glare at him as he disappeared into the crowd.

Brennan, Gardevoir, Lane, Luna, and Greninja approached the pair-having witnessed everything that just happened.

"Delphox, are you okay?" Luna asked, worryingly. Delphox flashed her a smile, before nodding.

"~Del-phox~" She crooned, before hugging Blaziken from behind. A few small hearts emanated off of her, as she raised one of her legs off of the floor. Blaziken stood there with his arms crossed, still annoyed at Zoroark.

Delphox knew that Blaziken was never one to openly show his feelings. For a long time she wasn't sure if he liked her back or not. She knew he always got nervous and embarrassed around her, but she figured that was just because of the way she flirted with him. But after this, seeing how jealous he got. Seeing how protective he got of her. She knew she had been right to believe that he did indeed feel the same way for her that she did him. Not only that, but the way he scared the Zoroark off really turned her on.

"Aww, how cute!" Luna exclaimed, her smile finally returning to her face.

Gardevoir thought it was cute too. She couldn't help but glance over at Brennan, wondering if he would get as jealous as Blaziken did if someone was to hit on her. She knew that wasn't really something she should be thinking about, but she honestly couldn't help it.

"So... I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the store you were looking for is... that one." Brennan said, breaking Gardevoir from her thoughts. She turned around and saw a large purple and white sign in cursive letters. The sign was for a store called 'Veronica's Secret.' Lane was practically bouncing up and down like an excited child walking into a toy store.

"Yep. That's the one." Luna replied, looking up at the sign about the entrance. "Oh, before I go in there, there was something I wanted to ask you." She continued, turning her attention to Brennan. He nodded.

"Ask away." He said. Luna grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side of the group. Brennan was confused as to why she did that. "What's up?" He asked.

"Okay. I didn't want to ask in front of the group, because I didn't want to embarrass Gardevoir." Luna replied. Brennan didn't know what she was getting at, but he was kind of curious. "I wanted to ask you first since she's your Pokémon, but I was wondering if I could take Gardevoir in there with me and get her some underwear and bra's?" She asked. Brennan's cheeks burned bright red at the question. He had been wondering if Luna had noticed Gardevoir's features. But from her question, she obviously had. I mean, he knew it would have been hard for her to miss, but she just hadn't said anything like he figured she would have. "I just thought maybe if she had some to wear, it would make her feel less uncomfortable in public. And maybe keep pervs from getting any funny ideas." She said. The last part really got Brennan's attention.

He didn't even have to say anything for Luna to understand how mad just the thought of what she had just said made Brennan. He was protective of his Pokémon, and she knew that.

Brennan knew that if anyone ever tried anything funny with Gardevoir, Office Jenny would have to come put him in cuffs and drag him away just to get him to stop pummeling someone's face in.

"You know what, go ahead. I think that's a good idea." Brennan finally said, realizing that that was indeed a good idea. Luna smiled and nodded. "Besides, maybe she'd be more comfortable buying those kinds of things with you than she would be me." He continued.

"Lets hope." Luna said.

Brennan and Luna rejoined the now smaller group. Delphox had already dragged Blaziken into the store with her, not bothering to wait for Luna. Brennan once again grew slightly embarrassed about Luna's question when he looked at Gardevoir.

"Okay, Gardevoir, I want you to come in here with me." Luna said. Gardevoir looked at her, before looking back at Brennan.

"I'm going... to uh-sit this one out." Brennan said, Gardevoir frowned.

"It's okay, Gardevoir. This is more of a girls store than anything. Besides, it'll give us some time to chat!" Luna exclaimed, happily. Gardevoir liked Luna, but she also didn't want to be without Brennan.

"Don't worry, I'll be right out here if you need me." Brennan reassured her. Gardevoir really didn't want to go in there without him, she just felt so much better with him being around her. But alas, she decided to go along with it.

He said it was more of a store for girls, so she figured that's why he wasn't going to come in with them. She knew he wasn't going to go anywhere without her, so she didn't have to worry about him leaving her. Or, at least she hoped she didn't have to worry about him leaving her.

Gardevoir stared at Brennan for several more seconds, before finally nodding. Luna smiled as she took her hand.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" She said, happily. Gardevoir kept her eyes on Brennan, as Luna pulled her towards the store. Brennan saw how unsure Gardevoir looked, so he gave her another reassuring smile to try and make her feel better.

Its not like Brennan didn't want to go in there with them. It's just, like he told Luna, Gardevoir would probably be more comfortable shopping for underwear with another girl and without him around. Besides, he knew that that store wasn't too big, and even if it was, Luna was there with her. So it's not like she was in there by herself.

He was just worried for her out in public. Especially with the way everyone treats her. Acting like she's some kind of freak or something. It made him worry that someone would try something. He hated to think that way, but he had every right to. He didn't know what people would do in this day and age.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir gingerly floated behind Luna as they walked through the store. Gardevoir quickly caught onto what this store sold. All of the mannequins had bras, panties, and lingerie on them. She looked down at herself realizing that even the mannequins had better bodies than her. She frowned.

"Okay, Gardevoir, we're going to get you some bras and panties to wear under your new clothes." Luna said, as she looked at the selection. "Now, first things first, I need to find out your bra size." She continued, turning and looking straight at Gardevoir's chest. Gardevoir blushed and folded her arms over her breasts. "No, it's okay, Gardevoir. I don't mean to embarrass you, I'm just trying to see if I can make a close guess." She explained.

Gardevoir still felt slightly embarrassed. She knew Luna meant no harm, but still. She didn't like people staring at her breasts.

"I know how you feel. I don't like people staring at my breasts either. I get mad when Lane does it." Luna said with a slight giggle at the end, as if she somehow read Gardevoir's mind.

Luna's breasts were just slightly bigger than Gardevoir's, that's why she figured she could just make an estimated guess on the size.

"So... how about we try a... 34C?" Luna said, as she looked for the size bra she had just mentioned. As she looked through the racks, Gardevoir looked around, taking in all the stores merchandise.

She floated towards a display with lingerie on it towards the back of the store. She stared up at the lacy-red, and very sexualized and revealing bra and panties combination on the mannequin.

She started wondering if women wore that stuff just to wear it, or if they wore it for a specific reason. The thought of her wearing it took over her mind. Her breasts being pushed up, making them seem bigger than they actually were. The small panties just big enough to cover her front, but small enough to barley exist on the back. The sheer stockings running up her thin, white legs, with the silky red straps connecting them to the bottom of the panties.

Then she imagined... what if she was wearing them for Brennan. An embarrassed blush formed on her face, as she imaged Brennan walking towards her, putting his hands on her hips, pulling her close to him, feeling his warm breath on her skin...

"Hey, Gardevoir, I found one I think you'll like!" Luna called, breaking Gardevoir from her thoughts. She stood there staring at the lingerie, her blush slightly fading as she came back down to reality.

She was thinking too far now. Her feelings were starting to go past the point of being possible. She sighed, before turning around and floating back over to Luna.

•••

•••

•••

Blaziken was currently standing outside one of the changing rooms waiting for Delphox. She had gone inside to try something on. He wasn't even paying too much attention to know what it was.

He looked around, feeling slightly awkward as he stood there. The place wasn't too busy, which was a good thing.

She had already been in there for several minutes, Blaziken didn't know what the heck she was doing. He heard some noises inside, before the door slightly opened.

Delphox peaked out, and motioned Blaziken to come over. He looked around again, the same emptiness was still there. He took a few steps towards the changing room. Once he was close enough, Delphox opened the door and pulled him in.

 **(WARNING: LEMON START)**

Blaziken stood there surprised, watching Delphox as she closed and locked the door back.

"Blazi-" Blaziken was asking, before Delphox put a finger to his mouth, shushing him. Blaziken was even more confused now.

Delphox gave him a seductive smile, before lifting up her fur skirt. Blaziken's eyes watched as she held it up, revealing her panty covered lower half underneath. Blaziken gulped, before his eyes ran back up her body. She was staring directly at him.

She slowly grabbed the panties with one of her paws and started pushing them down. Blaziken's eyes ran back down below, as her black panties fell to the floor. He was now staring at her bare vagina. It didn't take much for him to start getting hard. Delphox smiled as she watched his now hard member appear from his large amount of fur. She licked her snout.

She slowly stepped towards Blaziken, placing her paws on his shoulders and pulling herself against him when she was close enough. Blaziken stared down at her, still not sure of what to do.

Delphox's seductive smile grew, as she pulled Blaziken's head down and pressed her snout against his beak. Blaziken's eyes grew wide as Delphox pushed her tongue into his mouth.

His hands slowly lifted from his sides, grabbing ahold of Delphox's hips. Delphox let out a slight moan, causing Blaziken to wrap his arms around her, pressing her as close to him as he could.

She slowly broke away from the kiss, staring up at Blaziken with her still present smile. She lowered herself down to her knees, becoming face to face with Blaziken's erect penis.

Blaziken stared down at her as she gently grabbed it and moved it towards her mouth. He let out a surprised gasp and fell back against the back wall of the changing room when she took the whole thing into her mouth all at once.

A loud slurping sound was made when she pulled it out, a string of saliva running from it to her snout. She quickly put the tip back in, slowly bobbing back and fourth, going deeper and deeper each time. Blaziken felt his legs getting weak, the pleasure almost being too much.

Delphox lapped her tongue around him on her next big bob. Blaziken had to cover his beak to keep himself from moaning too loud. Delphox smiled up at him as she ran her tongue along him. She held the full length in her mouth for several seconds, running her tongue all along it as she held it. She eventually went back to bobbing her head.

Blaziken closed his eyes tight, enjoying every bit of pleasure that was coursing through him.

Delphox's slurps continued, as she continued to quickly bob her head back and forth, running her paw along whatever wasn't in her mouth.

Blaziken's knees bent, his legs growing weaker and weaker the better the pleasure got.

Delphox noticed this, and ran her free paw down her body and to her vagina. She ran her fingers up and down against her entrance, her juices dripping out onto the floor below. She let out a moan that muffled by Blaziken's member still being in her mouth.

Blaziken looked down, watching her as she plunged her fingers inside of herself. Her eyes traveled up to meet his as she continued both fingering herself and sucking his member.

She plunged her fingers as deep inside of her as they would go, as she once again took Blaziken's full length down her throat. She let out a short moan, that was interrupted by a gag.

She backed her head up, removing Blaziken from her mouth. Tears in her eyes and saliva dripping from her snout. She pulled her fingers out of her honeypot, more of her juices following.

Blaziken motioned for her to stand up. She listened. Once she was back to her feet he grabbed her head and pulled her in for another kiss. Their tongues wrestled around with each other, trying to enforce dominance over the other.

As Blaziken held the kiss, he ran one of his hands down her body, giving her breasts a slight massage as he did. Delphox let out a moan right into Blaziken's mouth.

He moved his hands down her body, finally making it to her dripping entrance. He ran two of his fingers against her slit, before pushing them inside. Delphox broke away from the kiss and buried her face into Blaziken's chest to muffle her moan.

Blaziken pumped his fingers inside of her, picking up his pace the tighter she held onto his fur. Her muffled moans being the only noise he was paying attention to.

He used his free hand to once again grab ahold of her face. He made her look up at him, before bringing her in for another kiss. The way she moaned into his mouth just made him start pumping his fingers even faster.

Just like Blaziken previously, Delphox felt her legs getting weak because of the pleasure. She tightly gripped onto Blaziken's fur to hold herself up.

The way Blaziken's fingers were getting soaked inside of her made him somehow grow even more hard than he already was. He wanted to pump them faster, but he couldn't. He was going as fast as he could.

They separated from their kiss, and Delphox once again buried her face in his fur, muffling her moans.

Blaziken moved his free hand down her back and to her butt. He gave it a quick pinch, causing Delphox to shiver against him and let out another moan.

That moan was what did it for Blaziken. He NEEDED to be inside of her. He pulled his fingers out of her and scooped her up by her legs. He turned around and pinned her back first against the wall as he held her up.

Delphox let out a light squeak in surprise at the quick motion. She had zero time to process it, before Blaziken once again kissed her. As he kissed her, he grabbed his throbbing member and aimed it towards her entrance. Once he found it, he slowly started rubbing her slit, teasing her, before finally pushing himself inside.

Delphox let out a moan louder than the ones before hand as she felt Blaziken's length enter her. Luckily, their kiss muffled the moan.

Blaziken slowly started pumping himself in and out in a slow rhythmic pattern; pushing himself deeper with each thrust.

Delphox broke away from the kiss yet again, staring Blaziken in the eyes with a glossy look. She buried her face into his neck, before letting out another moan. Feeling her moan against him prompted Blaziken to quicken his thrusts.

As he quickened his pace, he could feel Delphox digging her claws into his skin. He nuzzled on her neck, taking in her scent as he did. She wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to run one arm up her back, and rest the other underneath her butt.

The feeling of pure bliss was once again making Blaziken's leg grow weak. This pleasure was like nothing he had ever felt before. Delphox felt the same way.

His thrusts had become so consistent, that at this point, he was pumping his whole length in and out of her. Her moans were becoming louder and louder with each thrust. She bit into his neck just enough to quiet her moans. Again, Blaziken didn't care. It actually sent more pleasure coursing through his body.

Delphox was feeling immense pleasure. Feeling Blaziken's full length repeatedly thrusted in and out of her, hitting her g-spot over and over again. She couldn't help but let out a cry of ecstasy. With her cry, Blaziken once again quickened his pace.

Thrusting his full length deeper and deeper within her walls with each thrust. He could feel his ejaculation building up within him, but he didn't want to stop.

As his thrusts continued, Delphox let out another muffled cry of ecstasy into his neck, as she squirted her liquids all over his member. Blaziken could feel a new feeling of warm liquid running out of her entrance. He looked down and saw drops making it down to the floor below them.

He looked back up, his eyes resting on Delphox's bouncing breasts. Watching them move to the rhythm of his thrusts was amazing. But they just made it harder for him to refrain from cumming.

Delphox was also building up for her climax. She didn't know how much more of this she could take before she hit it. But just like Blaziken, she didn't want to.

They were going to enjoy this moment- enjoy each other as long as they possibly could.

 **(LEMON END)**

Gardevoir floated over to the changing rooms to try on the few items that Luna had given her. She hadn't noticed the one next to the one she took was currently occupied.

She hadn't heard anything until she floated into the room and closed the door. She was getting ready to pull her dress down, when she heard a muffled moan from the next room over. She stared at the wall as she heard it yet again. She was confused. She looked around the small dressing room she was in, knowing full well she wasn't going to see anything in there.

The moans continued. Gardevoir wanted to know what it was. She pressed her hand against the shared wall to the next room over, and closed her eyes. She focused all of her thoughts on the wall. She knew of this psychic ability she had, but she had never used it before. She never felt like she had the need to. But she was curious what was going on in the next room.

A porthole appeared in her mind, allowing her to see what was in the next room, and what she saw, made her jump back and press her back to the opposite wall.

It was Blaziken and Delphox, but they were... mating. The way Blaziken was holding her up, one hand on her back, the other resting on her bottom, Delphox's back against the back wall of the room, the way she could see his penis moving in and out of her vagina, and her muffled moans, all ran through Gardevoir's mind.

She leaned with her back against the wall, staring at the one across, not knowing what to do at that moment.

She floated in silence for several minutes, her mind eventually going blank. She was still trying to process this whole thing. She understood that Pokémon needed to mate, but doing it like that, and in the changing room of a store in a mall of all places? She didn't understand it.

She eventually shook her head, finally looking away from the wall she had been staring at. She didn't even feel like trying anymore clothes on at this point. Especially knowing what was going on in the next room over.

She gathered the clothes she had brought in the room and was getting ready to exit, when she stopped.

The thought of what Blaziken and Delphox were doing ran through her head. But... it wasn't Blaziken and Delphox doing it, it was her and Brennan.

The thought of Brennan lifting her up off of the floor, pinning her back against the wall, feeling him thrusting himself inside of her. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, crossing her legs as she felt a tingle between them.

She shook her head, before quickly exiting the changing room. She just needed to get out of there.

She quickly made her way back over to Luna, who was still looking around.

"Soooo, how did they fit?" Luna asked, once Gardevoir approached her. She was supposed to go in the changing room and try them on. But after what she saw, she didn't want to hand around and do that. She nodded in response.

"V-Voir." She replied. She decided to wing it. Luna said they looked like they would fit her, so that's what she was going to go by.

"That's great!" Luna exclaimed. "I'm almost done getting what I need, so I'll be ready to go in just a minute." She continued. Gardevoir nodded, before looking away.

Gardevoir stood there, trying her hardest to push her thoughts and what she had just witnessed out of her head. She had really been having a good day up until that point. At this point, she just wanted to go back to Brennan's, take a warm shower, and go to sleep.

Several torturing minutes passed before Luna was finally ready to go. She and Gardevoir headed up the counter to pay for their things. Gardevoir was just happy to be getting out of that store.

Gardevoir and Luna exited the store and made their way back over to the guys.

"So, any luck?" Brennan asked, looking at Gardevoir. She nodded and held up the bag that her newly acquired items were in. He smiled. "That's great. I'm glad Luna was able to help you find some things that fit." He said.

"It wasn't too hard to do actually. But, yep, we found her some nice things." Luna said.

"Thank you." Brennan mouthed. Luna smiled and nodded at him.

"Sooooo, did you get them?" Lane asked.

"I don't know, did I?" Luna asked rhetorically, holding up the bag she was carrying. Lane's tongue fell out of his mouth like a hungry dog staring at a nice meal.

Brennan chuckled, before looking around. He thought they had been ready to go, but Blaziken and Delphox were missing again.

"Are Blaziken and Delphox still in there?" He asked, getting Luna to look at him.

"They must be." She replied. Brennan didn't know what could have been taking them so long, but he figured while they were waiting, he could take Gardevoir to the food court.

"Hey, you know what, while we're waiting, Gardevoir and I are going to run over to the food court. Do you guys want anything?" Brennan asked.

"No thank you." Luna replied with a smile. Brennan looked over at Lane, who shook his head.

"Nope, I have to save my appetite." He said, causing Luna to blush and slap him in the back of the head.

"If you keep talking like that you'll have no reason to save your appetite." Luna said in an annoyed tone. Lane frowned and rubbed the back of his head.

Brennan shook his head in amusement, before looking at Gardevoir and motioning her to follow him with his head. Gardevoir nodded and the two took off towards the food court.

About halfway there, Brennan looked over at Gardevoir, who hadn't said anything the whole walk.

"Hey, Gardevoir, is everything okay?" He asked, getting the Pokémon to look at him. She gave him a smile and nodded. She was doing her absolute best to keep her inappropriate thoughts about him out of her head.

Brennan continued staring at her, even after she looked straight again. He just felt like something was wrong that she wasn't telling him about.

He figured maybe he could surprise her with some of her berries while they were there. He was hoping that would cheer her up.

As they neared the small stand that sold the berries, they didn't notice the blonde man in a suit watching them.

"So, Gardevoir, you know those berries you like?" Brennan said curiously. Gardevoir returned her gaze to him as she nodded. "Well, this is where you buy them from." He continued, as they stopped in line at the stand. Gardevoir lit up, causing Brennan to chuckle.

"Voir?!" She asked. Brennan nodded.

"Yep!" He replied. This news seemed to cheer Gardevoir up, at least a little bit. Which Brennan was happy about.

They only waited in line for about two minutes before they got up to the counter. Brennan bought two berry boxes, happily handing one to Gardevoir to snack on as they headed back towards the group. Gardevoir was enjoying her berries, when they were stopped.

"Uh... excuse me! Sir!" A man exclaimed, getting both Brennan and Gardevoir to stop and turn around. As they did, they saw a blonde man in a suit making his way over to them. They thought it was weird.

To Brennan, he looked like some kind of door to door salesman or something. He didn't like those kinds of people.

"Hello, I'm Irwin S. Schwills, and I just wanted to comment on that lovely Gardevoir you have there." The man, Irwin, said. Gardevoir scooted a little behind Brennan, growing slightly embarrassed by being called 'lovely.'

Brennan looked over his shoulder back at Gardevoir, before turning his attention back to the man.

"Uh... thank you." Brennan said.

As Gardevoir stared at him, she was getting really negative vibes. She felt like he couldn't be trusted. His hair was combed back, his cheap looking suit was wrinkled, he was wearing dirty boots with a suit, and underneath the pair of glasses he was wearing rested a giant scar over his left eye. Something just didn't feel right to her.

"So, I have taken such an interest in your Gardevoir that I'm prepared to offer you fifty thousand dollars for it." Irwin said. Both Brennan and Gardevoir went wide eyed.

Gardevoir quickly looked at Brennan, worried about what he was going to say. Brennan wasn't shocked at the cash amount he was offered, he was shocked that some random stranger would come up out of nowhere and ask to buy someone else's Pokémon.

"I'm sorry, but SHE isn't for sale." Brennan finally replied. This relaxed Gardevoir. She knew he wouldn't sell her. The man cleared his throat.

"What about one-hundred thousand dollars for... her?" Irwin asked. Brennan didn't even need to think about it, quickly shaking his head in response.

"No. Like I said, she isn't for sale." He replied.

"Come on, everybody has a price." Irwin said. "Since I'm so interested in that Gardevoir, I'm prepared to offer you one million dollars for her." He continued, pulling out his checkbook as he did.

Brennan was starting to grow very frustrated with this guy. What he wanted to do was punch him in the nose and break his glasses. But, he somehow managed to refrain himself from doing so.

"Look dude, like I've said twice already; SHE ISN'T FOR SALE!" Brennan exclaimed, trying to get this guy to understand what he was saying.

Gardevoir frowned at the man, clearly able to tell he was upsetting Brennan. She looped one of her arms through his and grabbed ahold of it, getting him to look at her. Brennan looked at her, before looking back at the man.

"So, if that's all you needed, my Gardevoir and I are going to be on our way. Have a nice night." Brennan said, trying his hardest to remain as calm as he possibly could. He and Gardevoir turned away from the man and started walking back towards their group.

As they walked away, the man pulled something out of his pocket and quickly flicked it towards Gardevoir. Luckily for him, it stuck to the back of her dress without her knowing. He sneered at his work, as he watched the two disappear into the distance.

"See ya soon, Gardevoir." The man said to himself.

Once Brennan and Gardevoir made it back to the group, they saw that Blaziken and Delphox had finally rejoined them. When Gardevoir saw them, her mind immediately traveled back to the inappropriate thoughts she had about Brennan.

"There you guys are. We were starting to wonder if you were coming back." Luna said.

"Yeah, sorry it took so long. We were on our way back when some needle nosed, Scarface villain reject stopped us and asked me if I would sell him Gardevoir." Brennan said, his annoyance still present in his voice. This surprised both Luna and Lane.

"Are you serious?!" Luna asked. Brennan nodded.

"He wouldn't take 'No, she's not for sale' as an answer. I was getting ready to make his stupid glasses a permanent part of his face." He replied.

"What a dick." Lane said. Brennan looked at him and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, a huge one." He said. Luna shook her head in disgust. If she was around them when that guy did that, she would have made sure he took no for an answer.

"I'm sorry that happened to you guys." She said, feeling very sympathetic for the pair.

"Dudes lucky I walked away when I did." Brennan said. He was clearly still annoyed, and Gardevoir didn't like that. She tightened her grasp on his arm, getting him to look at her.

Brennan stared into her sparkly red eyes, almost getting lost in them. He wasn't even paying any mind to the people who were staring at them. There is no way Brennan would sell Gardevoir. No way whatsoever. And that was fact.

"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Luna asked happily, trying to lighten the mood as she looked around to make sure everyone was there. They were. Brennan and Gardevoir finally managed to break their eye contact, even though neither of them wanted to.

"I'll take that as a yes." Lane said, lifting up all of Luna's bags. "I better look like a bodybuilder when we get home." He continued, looking down at all the bags.

"Maybe someday, sweetheart." Luna said with a giggle, as she patted him on the shoulder. Lane frowned as he followed her to the exit.

Brennan looked back over at Gardevoir, who looked like she had seen a ghost. This concerned him.

"Are you okay, Gardevoir?" He asked. Gardevoir glanced over at Blaziken and Delphox, who were practically cuddled together as they walked. She looked back at Brennan, before nodding.

She wasn't going to tattle on the two. They obviously loved each other, so they were going to do... THAT eventually. She felt more embarrassed about imagining that it was her a Brennan, than she was that she saw it to begin with.

Brennan wanted to take Gardevoir's hand as they walked, but they were both full of bags. That disappointed him.

They followed behind the others as they exited the mall. The sun was starting to set, so they had been in the mall a lot longer than it seemed. Except for that accident at the end, they had a good day. And Brennan was grateful of Luna for making it happen. Anything to make Gardevoir happy was worth it.

As the left the mall, Gardevoir glanced over at the fountain one last time. A smile formed on her face. Sure, she had been through some rough spots today. But, overall, she had a good day.

She thought back to what Brennan had said about tossing a coin in the fountain and making a wish. She smiled because she knew her wish had already come true.

She glanced over at Brennan, who was staring straight ahead. Again seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

Since Gardevoir was only carrying a couple of things, she moved all of it to her right hand, freeing her left. She moved closer to Brennan, once again hugging onto his left arm, smiling up at him as she did.

Brennan, broken from his thoughts, looked down at her. There was that smile again. It was something that no matter how many times he saw it, he loved it.

He smiled back at her. They stared at each other again for several seconds, before finally looking straight again.

As they walked, Gardevoir couldn't help but think how much had changed between the two just since this morning. They seemed closer than before. She wanted to be closer to him. And with the way he treated her, especially today, she couldn't help but wonder if he wanted to be closer to her.

But, even with all of those thoughts running through her head, she still couldn't help but feel like something bad was about to happen.


	14. Chapter 14

After their fun filled day in the city, Brennan and his Pokémon parted ways with Luna and Lane.

As they were saying their goodbyes, he saw Delphox 'discreetly' slide something into Blaziken's hand. He didn't know what, but he also didn't feel like it was important enough to ask about.

Brennan released his other Pokémon from their balls before they started their walk home. They were happy to be free again, especially Mightyena.

It was kind of convenient too. Machamp wasn't mad about having to be put back in his ball, so he offered to help Brennan and Gardevoir carry their large number of bags home. It made it easier for both of them.

Again, Gardevoir only had one bag. And that bag had the panties and bra's that she got at the last store they stopped at. She didn't really feel comfortable having one of the others carry something like that.

As they walked, they watched the sunset in the distance. Gardevoir closed her eyes, a smile on her face, as the cool wind hit her.

She opened her eyes and looked over at Brennan, who seemed just as content as she did. She once again grabbed his hand, getting him to look at her. He gave her a smile, as he grasped her hand in return.

Gardevoir returned her gaze back ahead, savoring the moment. This moment, right now, was the most content she had ever felt in her entire life. It was nice to finally feel that way.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir was slightly disappointed when they finally made it back to the apartment. She was really enjoying their walk.

The group headed inside, Blaziken headed right towards the bathroom, while Brennan, Gardevoir, and Machamp headed to Brennan's bedroom.

"Hey, thank you, Champ." Brennan thanked his Pokémon, as he sat the bags down. Machamp smiled and nodded, before heading out of the room.

Gardevoir had floated over to the bed and sat down on the edge, staring at Brennan as he looked down at the large pile of bags on the floor.

"Gardevoir, I'll tell you this, you shop just like Luna." Brennan said jokingly, as he turned to face her. Gardevoir slightly blushed in embarrassment. "Don't worry. You deserve to have things, too. So maybe it's a good thing." He continued. Gardevoir's embarrassed blush remained, as she nodded in response. "So, now, the next step is finding somewhere for you to put all of you things. Since... you live here now..." He started, before trailing off after what he had just said.

At this point, regardless of whether or not Gardevoir was officially HIS Pokémon, she did live with him. She had been there almost a month now. A month that Brennan had really been enjoying. Well, except for his problems with Blaziken that is.

Gardevoir hearing Brennan say that she lived there was nice. It was conformation for her knowing that Brennan was one-hundred percent okay with her presence.

She sat on the bed and watched as Brennan walked over to his dresser. He pulled open one of the drawers and smiled.

"Luckily, I don't feel the need to fill all of these things up. So, we can put some of your stuff away." Brennan said, turning to face Gardevoir. She smiled and nodded.

Gardevoir floated over to her pile of bags, and got down on her knees in front of them. Brennan walked on his knees over to the pile, joining her.

"Okay, we can put shirts, pajamas, and *Clears Throat* any other private clothing item in those two empty drawers over there. The rest of it can be hung up in the closet." Brennan said. Gardevoir looked over at him and nodded. "So, since they're your things, I'm going to let you go through the bags." He continued. Gardevoir looked back at the pile of bags, before grabbing the first one. It was her bra's and panties she got at that last store her and Luna had gone into. The flashback of what she saw Blaziken and Delphox doing immediately planted itself in her mind.

The flashback was quickly replaced, however. Once again, instead of it being Blaziken and Delphox, it was her and Brennan. She could feel Brennan holding her up, their naked body's pressing against each other. She could feel his deep thrusts inside of her. She could feel his warm breath against her skin, as he gently kissed her neck...

"Gardevoir? Hey, Gardevoir?" Brennan said, breaking Gardevoir from her thought. Her cheeks lit up bright red when she felt his hand resting on her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked.

"V-Voir." Gardevoir replied, not having the courage to look at him as she did.

She sat the first bag off to the side, before quickly moving on to the next. This one just had a few shirts in it, which was a relief.

Brennan sat there patiently helping Gardevoir sort through all of her new clothes. As she pulled things out, she handed them to Brennan if they could fit in the dresser. If they couldn't, she sat them off to the side.

It went on like that for close to half an hour before everything was finally situated. Gardevoir stared down at the mess of now empty shopping bags scattered around the floor. She went to push herself back up, when she felt the bag she had put aside earlier. She stared at it a few seconds, before finally grabbing ahold of it. Brennan had been gathering up all of the loose bags, when he saw her pick it up.

"Oh, you found a stray?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir stayed silent as she continued to stare at the bag. When he didn't get a reply, Brennan tried his best to examine what the bag said, so he could try and figure out what was in it. When he was able to make out 'Veronica's Secret' he figured out why he didn't get a response. "Ohhhh. Okay. Hey, I'll let you put those away. There's room in that middle drawer right there." He said, motioning to the previously mentioned drawer.

Gardevoir finally looked at him, her cheeks were still slightly red of embarrassment. To avoid making her feel anymore embarrassed, Brennan decided to leave the room for a couple of minutes.

"I'm going to...uh-take these out to the kitchen. I'll be back in a minute." Brennan said, standing up and gathering the large amount of shopping bags in his arms. He headed out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Gardevoir alone.

Gardevoir watched him leave, before finally feeling comfortable enough to open the bag she was holding in her hand. One by one, she pulled the items out and sat them down on the floor in front of her.

First, a pair of mint green panties. They were actually quite small. They weren't as revealing as the lingerie she had seen on the mannequin, but they were still small enough to be considered "sexy."

The next item was a matching bra. It was the same color as the panties, and again, a bit small. Gardevoir had never worn a bra before, so she didn't know how she would even look in one.

She sat the bra down, before pulling out the next item, a pale red colored pair of panties. They looked almost identical to the last pair, except they were red instead of green. Again, not as revealing as the pair on the mannequin, but still enough to be considered "sexy."

Gardevoir sat that pair of panties down before pulling out the matching bra that went with them. This bra seemed to be slightly smaller than the last one. Gardevoir felt like this is the kind of bra that would push her breasts up and make them seem bigger than they actually were.

She looked down at her chest. Her breasts weren't huge, by any means. Maybe by Pokémon standards they were, but compared to human women, they were average at best.

Next, Gardevoir pulled out a pair of white panties. They were almost the same color as her skin. Almost. She sat them down in front of her, before pulling out the matching bra. This one seemed like it was about the same size as the last one. Once she sat the bra down, she stared down at the three pairs of matching underwear.

Again, this whole "underwear" thing was new to her. Out in the wild, she never wore any because she didn't own any. Heck, she didn't even know what they were until Luna explained them to her.

She finally looked away from them, looking up at the drawer that Brennan had pulled halfway open. She pushed herself back up, grabbing the red and mint green panties and bra combo as she did. She floated over to the drawer and gently sat them inside of it. Red, then mint green.

After, she turned back to the white set that had remained in the middle of the floor. She used her psychokinesis to lift them up and bring them to her. Once she felt the soft, lacy fabric in her hands, she stared down at them.

Several seconds of staring at them passed, before she gently laid them in the drawer with the other pairs. Tomorrow was going to be the first day she actually wore underwear and a bra.

As she started pushing the drawer closed, she felt another tingling sensation between her legs. They became wobbly as she let out a slight moan. She bit her bottom lip as she looked down. That was the second time today that that had happened.

As she stared down at herself, there was a knock on the door. It startled her somewhat because of how concentrated she was on looking down at herself.

"Gardevoir, can I come in?" She heard Brennan ask from the other side of the closed door. She looked up at the door, feeling another tingle between her legs as she did. They once again shook, as she covered her mouth to quiet the moan.

"V-Voir." She finally replied, using the dresser to push herself back up straight.

The door creaked open and Brennan appeared. The smile on his face when he walked in the room made Gardevoir blush madly.

"So, you got everything situated?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir nodded in response, her cheeks remaining red as she did. "Well, that's good. I'm glad we were able to put all of it away." He said, she looked down towards the floor as he did. "Hey, is everything alright?" Brennan asked, his voice full of worry.

Gardevoir remained staring down at the beige colored carpet below. Just hearing his voice was making it very hard for her to not jump on him and kiss him.

"Hey, Gardevoir?" Brennan said, more worried than before, as he took a few short steps towards her. Gardevoir bit her bottom lip as he neared her.

She could easily sense his worry. But, her building lust for him made her body tense up. She was froze. She needed to get out of there and calm down.

She finally looked up at Brennan, causing him to stop walking. She was about to rush towards the door, when she realized that there was still something she needed to do.

She quickly floated over to Brennan and pressed her lips against his cheek. She only kept them there a split second, before pulling away and quickly floating out of the room. Brennan stood there frozen in place; his face slightly pink with blush. He wasn't sure what just happened.

When he heard the bathroom door slam, he slowly raised his left hand up to his left cheek where Gardevoir's lips had met his skin. He felt wrong for it, but he actually got goosebumps when she kissed him. And it wasn't even a kiss on the lips, it was just a quick, and simple kiss on the cheek.

•••

•••

•••

After kissing him, Gardevoir quickly left the room and raced to the bathroom. Once she got inside, she slammed the door behind her, and pressed her back to it. Her cheeks were as red as tomatoes and her heart was racing a hundred miles an hour. She was in shock that she had just done that.

She KISSED Brennan!

She slid down the door and down to the cold tiles below. She tucked her knees to her chest and hugged them, as she once again bit her bottom lip.

She didn't know where that courage had come from. Before, she was scared to even hug him. But, now... she was taking ahold of his hand, hugging onto his arm, and kissing his cheek.

She couldn't help but wonder though, what did he think of it? There was no way she was going to wait to see his reaction.

She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to try and relax herself. But, as the thought of her pressing her lips against Brennan's skin ran through her mind again, she felt another tingle between her legs. She once again quickly covered her mouth to muffle her moan.

She sat up against the door, trembling, and trying to keep herself quiet. However, she soon realized why she had been feeling the way she was. And why she had been having so many inappropriate thoughts about Brennan.

She was in heat...

Gardevoir buried her face in her hands, shaking her head at her realization.

Not now. Why did it have to happen now?

She had been in heat before; this wasn't anything new to her. However, this is the first time that she had actually been very lustful for one particular mate. The mate being Brennan.

Usually, she just tried to ignore it. But this time- this time she couldn't. It was just too strong for her to ignore.

She needed to get her fix in somehow. She knew she couldn't just outright go up to Brennan and ask him to mate with her. She still wasn't even one-hundred percent sure that he even felt the same way about her that she did him.

She looked down towards her aching private part. She needed to relieve it. She couldn't ignore it this time.

She closed her eyes tightly, trying one last time to ignore the aching. It couldn't be done. She pulled herself back up, before floating over to the shower.

If she was going to be forced to do this, she needed to make sure she couldn't be heard doing it. She turned the knobs, not even bothering to fix the temperature. She didn't care how hot, or cold it was, it just needed to make noise.

After the water was on, Gardevoir stripped out of her dress, and quickly climbed in. The water wasn't that perfect temperature she had grown use to, but it didn't seem to effect her.

 **(LEMON WARNING)**

She stood in the shower, her bare, pale skin getting soaked by the water. She closed her eyes once again, her breath slowing down. She kept them closed, as she ran her right hand down her body; running over her breasts as she did.

She started growing very shaky the closer she got to her aching entrance. Her breath hitched when she finally did. She used her three long, slender fingers to slowly rub her lips, a series of soft moans escaping her mouth as she did.

As she separated her lips, and used her middle finger to gently massage her clit, Brennan forced his way back into her head.

She held her eyes closed as tightly as she could, watching the scene play out in her head.

Brennan walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waste. They stared into each others eyes, before slowly closing the gap between them; their lips meeting. As their kiss continued, Brennan slowly ran his hands down Gardevoir's back, and down to her butt. She moaned in his mouth as he squeezed it. He seemed to enjoy the moan, because he squeezed again.

They broke the kiss and Brennan moved down to sucking on her neck. Gardevoir wrapped her arms around him; digging her fingers into his hair. Pleasure ran through her as he nibbled on her sensitive skin.

Gardevoir ran her hands down Brennan's back and to his waste. She started tugging on his belt, prompting him to back away from her neck. He looked at her, able to tell exactly what she wanted. A small smirk formed on his face, as he quickly unbuckled his belt.

Gardevoir pushed them down, not breaking their eye contact as she did. As she listened to the belt cling off of the floor, she grabbed his boxers and pulled them down, too. She finally looked down at his large, erect member. As she stared down at it in awe, Brennan stepped towards her, backing her up against the wall. Their lips met for another sloppy, lust filled kiss.

As they kissed, Gardevoir ran her right hand down his body, grabbing ahold of his large member. She slowly started stroking it, trying her best to pleasure her new master.

Brennan pulled away from the kiss, looking over Gardevoir's shoulder. His panting reassured her that she was doing a good job.

As his panting persisted, Gardevoir lowered herself down to her knees. She stroked his dick for several more seconds, before inserting it into her mouth. Brennan gasped when he felt Gardevoir's tongue lap around it.

Even though it was just a thought, Gardevoir could already taste Brennan inside her mouth. She plunged her finger inside of her, causing her to open her eyes and gasp in surprise. She panted heavily, as she closed her eyes back. She continued pumping her finger inside of herself, as she went back to her thoughts.

She bobbed her head back and fourth on Brennan's member, her tongue tasting every inch of it. She looked up at Brennan as he put his hands against the wall to keep himself up; the moans escaping his mouth prompting her to quicken her pace.

The bobbing quickened. Gardevoir was taking the full length in at this point, her loud gags could probably be heard a block away. Brennan looked down at her, placing his hands on the back of her head.

She gave a few more deep bobs, before finally pulling. She gasped for air as saliva leaked out of her mouth. Brennan stared down at her, still trying to catch his own breath.

Gardevoir stood up and Brennan immediately grabbed her and pulled her into another sloppy kiss. He forced his tongue into her mouth, surprising her. She let it explore the inside, moaning as it did.

When they broke the kiss, Brennan looked down at her chest, grabbing the top of her dress and pulling it down. Her breasts breathed a breath of fresh air as they were uncovered. Brennan grabbed them and started gently massaging them, carefully rubbing his thumbs around her nipples. Gardevoir moaned, as she watched the assault on her breasts.

As Gardevoir's moans continued, Brennan slid his left hand down her body, as the other continued to play with her breasts. He lifted up her dress and slid his hand underneath it. He stared her straight in the eyes, as he gently started rubbing her lips with his index and middle fingers. She let out another loud moan when he started rubbing her clit.

As he rubbed on her clit, and continued to play with her breasts, she clutched onto the back of his shirt. Her moans were becoming more and more loud. Brennan seemed to be enjoying that. He finally plunged his two fingers inside of her entrance sending a huge wave of pleasure coursing through her body. She buried her face into his shoulder, clutching her eyes closed.

As he pumped his index and middle fingers inside of her, he used his thumb to massage her clit. Her muffled moans sent chills down Brennan's spine.

The further her thoughts went, the realer it felt. Gardevoir's legs started growing shaky, as if Brennan was actually standing in the shower with her, pleasuring her. It was amazing.

As Brennan quickened his pace, she did the same. She let out a loud moan, louder than she hoped it would come out. She quickly covered her mouth with her free hand, hoping no one had heard it. She continued pumping her other fingers in and out, as her legs grew weaker and weaker the closer she came to her release.

She once again closed her eyes, trying to focus her attention back on Brennan. She was close to her release, she could feel it. She just needed a little more time.

She let out another loud moan as he quickened his pace. The way he was making her feel was way too much to bare anymore. Finally, she let out another loud, continuous moan as her juice covered Brennan's hand. She panted heavily, as she fell against Brennan's chest.

Brennan smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down on her back. Gardevoir panted, trying to catch her breath. She watched Brennan lift her dress up.

He never broke eye contact with her as he lowered himself down in front of her juice soaked pussy. In one quick motion, he ran his tongue against her lips, wanting to taste the juices he had made her release. Gardevoir reared her head back, letting out another moan as she stared up at the ceiling.

Brennan's licks continued. He used his already soaked fingers to spread her lips, allowing him to push his tongue in further. Gardevoir panted as she felt his tongue lapping up whatever juices he had caused her to release. She let out another moan when his tongue flicked against her clit.

Gardevoir let out another loud moan as she finally felt her release coming. Her legs started growing very wobbly, she was hardly even able to keep herself up at this point. She once again quickened her pace, rubbing her clit as she did.

"V-Voir!" She moaned out, as her pussy quivered and her juices poured out onto her hand, and down into the tub below.

After, she dropped down to her knees, before falling into a sitting position, panting heavily as she did.

 **(LEMON END)**

Gardevoir sat in the tub, tiredly watching as the shower water rained down and washed away the results of her few minutes of pleasurable release. She sat there relieved about her release, but disgusted with herself about the thoughts she just forced into her head. Now she had to go out there and face Brennan knowing she just pleasured herself to the thought of him and her... mating.

She continued to sit there letting the water soak her. She was tired, and planned on going to bed after this. She was just hoping Brennan wouldn't bring up the kiss... even though that was a long shot, and she knew it.

•••

•••

•••

After Gardevoir's kiss and quick escape, Brennan had stood still in the middle of his room for several seconds trying to process what had just happened. But he couldn't. He couldn't figure it out. But, at the same time, he could. He didn't move until he heard the bathroom door slam.

That broke him from his thoughts. He looked at the bedroom door, knowing full well that it was Gardevoir who had slammed the door. She seemed like she had been in a hurry to get out of there. He chalked it up to be out of embarrassment, even though she shouldn't feel embarrassed.

He walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge. It was just a kiss to the cheek. But why did he enjoy it so much? There had to be a deeper reasoning behind he was starting to get these... obscene feelings for Gardevoir.

They had only known each other for a month, but yet, it felt like it had been a lot longer. He cared for her. Cared for her like a boyfriend would care for his girlfriend. He felt very protective of her. More so than he felt he should have.

Brennan felt like... he wanted her. Wanted her more than a trainer should want a Pokémon. She was beautiful.

He fell down onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. What was going through his head? What was wrong with him?! She's a Pokémon, right? Why was he having these feelings for her?!

He started growing very frustrated with himself over this. She gives him a peck on the cheek, that probably meant nothing to her, and now he's realizing he's falling in love with her?

Brennan grabbed his pillow and held it over his face, yelling into it in frustration. He needed to sleep this one off. He needed some rest. He was tired. All of these thoughts had to be brought on by how tired he was, right? Right...?

He needed some sleep. That's it. And that's what he was going to get. Maybe he'd have a clear mind in the morning. At least, that's what he was hoping, because he still needed to come up with a good apology for Blaziken. Meaning, he had a lot on his mind at that current moment.


	15. Chapter 15

Morning had finally come, and Brennan remained lying still in the dark room, staring up at the ceiling that he had grown very use to seeing throughout the night. He had gotten hardly any sleep the night before. His mind had been lost on Gardevoir. She was the only thing he could think about.

And it didn't help that she was asleep next to him in his bed.

He had fought very hard to not even glance over at the sleeping Pokémon. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but look over at her. He could barley just make out her sleeping form in the darkness.

He mentally groaned to himself, as he closed his eyes. He needed some coffee. He was hoping that would calm his nerves down some.

He pushed the covers off of himself and sat up; throwing his legs off the side of the bed. He did his best to be as quiet as he possibly could as he stood up and exited the room. He didn't want to wake neither Gardevoir, nor Mightyena.

He pulled open the bedroom door just enough for him to be able to slide out of the room. After he squeezed his way through the door, he closed it back, before sighing in relief. He walked down the hallway headed for the kitchen; he could already hear the unbrewed coffee calling his name.

He got to the living room, where Blaziken and Machamp were still passed out. But, something Brennan noticed was that for the first time since before Gardevoir got there, Blaziken actually had a smile on his face. He figured he was probably just having a good dream. But, regardless, it was a good sight to see.

He continued his way into the kitchen where he quickly got his coffee brewing. He was quite anxious to taste the hot coffee running down his throat. As he waited for his coffee, he grabbed a couple pieces of bread and threw them in the toaster.

He was trying to do anything he could to keep his mind off of Gardevoir. As he waited for his toast to pop up, he rested his hands on the counter, closed his eyes, and sighed. He stood there just trying to focus on anything else. He stayed in that position for several seconds, until he head someone enter the kitchen.

He turned around halfway expecting to see Gardevoir, but Sandslash was standing there instead.

"Oh, morning, buddy." Brennan said. He was actually kind of relieved it wasn't Gardevoir.

"Slash." Sandslash said, as he rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes.

"Are you hungry? I've got some toast-" Brennan was saying, before being interrupted by the sound of the toast popping out of the toaster. "-Some toast ready if you want a piece." He finished, a light chuckle escaping his mouth. Sandslash nodded, before walking to the kitchen table and climbing into one of the chairs.

Brennan grabbed a plate and threw the two pieces of toasted bread onto it, before pulling the fridge open.

"Butter, or jelly?" He asked, looking back at his Pokémon.

"Sand-slash." Sandslash replied. Brennan already knew his answer was going to be jelly. Like his other Pokémon, Sandslash was a fan of jelly.

Brennan pulled the jelly out of the fridge and and quickly smeared some on the two pieces of bread, before taking it to the table and setting it down in front of Sandslash.

"Here you go. Eat up." He said. Sandslash smiled up at him, before nodding.

After delivering Sandslash his breakfast, he walked back over to the counter and leaned up against it. Again, he tried to keep Gardevoir off of his mind as he waited for his coffee. It... was... very, VERY difficult.

•••

•••

•••

Simon and Nelson had arrived at the place they were looking for. They were hid out in the midst of trees and bushes behind the large building.

"Are you sure this is where she at?" Nelson asked, still slightly annoyed that he had had to follow Simon to a place he was assured Gardevoir would be. Simon nodded as he looked down at the watch on his wrist. It wasn't just a watch, it was also a tracker.

"This is where it says she is. Like I already told you, I planted that tracker on her at the mall. And unless she came her, took her dress off, and left it, this is where she's at." Simon assured. Nelson mumbled something under his breath, as he looked back up at the building.

"Yeah, but which apartment is she in, Einstein?" He asked. Simon sighed.

"That I don't know for sure. But, I do know its one of those four." He replied, pointing towards the four apartments on the left side of the building.

"Well, that's fantastic. Now we're supposed to sit here and wait until she leaves whatever apartment she's in?" Nelson asked. Simon sheepishly nodded. Nelson shook his head, the expression on his face showing nothing but anger towards his 'partner.' "You're a fucking moron, do you know that?" He asked.

"Hey, I don't know why you're insulting me. If it wasn't for my, in your words "The dumbest fucking idea I've ever heard before", we wouldn't have even made it this far trying to track that Gardevoir down. So, instead of complaining like you've been doing since we started our mission, why don't you just suck it up and deal with it. Because I know you don't want to go back to the boss empty handed again." Simon said. Nelson stared at him, before growling in frustration. He knew Simon was right. And he hated it.

"Don't flatter yourself." He started, before looking straight again. "All you did was dress up in a stupid costume, and plant a tracker on her. Until we have that Gardevoir in our possession, you haven't done shit." He continued. Simon huffed and shook his head, before turning his attention back to the apartments.

•••

•••

•••

Some time had passed since Brennan had gotten up, before Gardevoir finally woke up. She tiredly sat up in the bed, stretched and yawned. The first thing she looked for as she sat up was to see if Brennan was still in bed. He wasn't. Mightyena was gone too.

As Brennan crossed her mind, her cheeks burned bright red remembering what she had done the previous night. As good as it felt, she still couldn't help but feel angry with herself for doing what she did. She was honestly shocked she was able to be in the same bed as Brennan and actually fall asleep.

She sat still, just staring ahead for several minutes, before finally pushing the blanket off of herself. She crawled towards the edge of the bed and slid her legs over the side. Once again, she sat for several minutes, just staring at the closet door across from her.

She was honestly scared to go face Brennan. Obviously he was oblivious to what she had done, but still. He may not of known, but she sure as heck did.

Gardevoir finally decided she was going to take a shower before heading into the living room, where she figured Brennan was going to be. Besides, she needed to focus on actually cleaning herself this time. Maybe it would make her feel less dirty after last night.

She stood up and floated over to the closet. Once there, she opened it up and pulled her dress down off of the hanger Brennan had hung it on for her. Once she had her dress, she floated towards the door to head to the bathroom, but, before she could leave the room, she stopped. She remembered that she told herself the previous night she was going to try and wear a set of the bra and panties that Luna had boughten for her.

She turned around and floated over to the dresser, opening her drawer once she did. She stared at the bras and panties wondering which ones she should wear first. After contemplating it for almost a full minute, she finally decided to go with the mint green set. The fact that they matched her hair was what persuaded her decision, even though no one was going to be seeing them.

After she decided, she closed the drawer back and headed towards the bathroom. As she floated out of the bedroom, she peaked down the hall and saw Blaziken sitting on the couch. From what she could see of the living room, there was no sign of Brennan. She honestly didn't know if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

She made her way into the bathroom and quickly stripped out of her pajamas. As she made her way to the tub, she did her best to avoid looking at herself in the mirror. She just couldn't bare to see herself right now.

She got the shower on the way she liked it, and climbed in. She stood there letting the water soak her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to forget about what she had done in that same spot just the night before. It was surely going to be a tough feat to do, but she was going to do it.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan had been sitting at the kitchen table for awhile now. His Pokémon had already come and gone for breakfast, so he was just in there alone with his thoughts.

As he sat there, slowly sipping his now cold coffee, he wondered. Wondered why he had been feeling the way he had been. Wondered why Gardevoir had constantly been on his mind, regardless of whether she was with him or not. He sighed as he dropped his head down onto the table.

So... trying to keep himself occupied and her off of his mind had failed. Great.

As he sat there with his head resting on the cold table, the realization that he hasn't really put any time into thinking about a way to apologize to Blaziken. That just made things even more frustrating. It was one of the most important things he needed to do, and he had pushed it to the back of his mind in favor of his nonstop thoughts about Gardevoir.

He mentally groaned, before lifting his head back off of the table. He shook his head, before letting out a deep sigh. He wasn't sure what to do. But, he knew he had to do something to apologize to Blaziken.

He took another sip of his cold coffee, finally finishing it off. He stood up and took the cup to the sink, before heading back towards his room. He wanted to get some clean clothes and take a nice long shower to hopefully ease his mind for a few minutes.

As he walked down the hall, he heard the shower in the bathroom. He figured that Gardevoir had probably gotten up and decided to take one. It wasn't a big deal to him, he didn't mind waiting.

He headed into his room and flicked the light on, not stopping as he walked over to his dresser. He pulled the top drawer open to get a clean shirt out of it. Although he'd have to wait for his shower, he could still get some clean clothes ready to take in there with him once Gardevoir was done.

As he pulled a shirt out, something black caught his eye in the back of the drawer. It was just barley peaking up from underneath the short that was now left on top of it. Brennan sat the shirt he had grabbed down, and slowly reached for the item. He knew exactly what it was, so he wasn't going to be surprised by what was in it.

He pulled out a black box out of the drawer. It wasn't a tiny box, but it was still small. He stared at it for several seconds, remembering where and when he had received it. He slowly opened the box, staring at what was inside of it. That's when a smile grew on his face.

He got it! That's when he knew how he was going to apologize to Blaziken!

Brennan quickly headed back out of his bedroom, not bothering to close the drawer, or turn the light off on his way out. He speed walked down the hallway and back into the living room, where he finally stopped, staring at his large, fire type Pokémon, who was sitting on the couch watching the cartoon that was currently playing on the tv.

"Hey, uh, Blaziken, I need to talk to you in the kitchen for a minute." Brennan spoke, getting his Pokémon to look at him. Blaziken rolled his eyes. He didn't want to get up from his spot, and Brennan could tell. "Please, Blaziken? It's important." He pleaded. Blaziken sighed in annoyance, before getting up.

Brennan made it back in the kitchen. He closed his eyes and let out another sigh, before turning around as he waited for Blaziken to walk in. A few seconds later, he did.

Blaziken walked in with his arms crossed and a still slightly annoyed look on his face. Regardless of how much fun he had had the night before with Delphox, that didn't make him forget about how Brennan had been treating him and his other Pokémon since Gardevoir showed up.

Brennan stared at his tall, red, orange, and cream furred Pokémon; the anger very present in his stance and facial expression.

"Blaziken, look... I've been thinking of a way to apologize to you ever since the argument we got into. It's really been bugging me knowing my best friend is mad at me. I honestly didn't know how to go about doing it to make you believe that I am sorry for the I've been making you and the others feel since Gardevoir got here. If you, or any of the others for that matter feel that I've been neglecting you, I haven't meant to make you feel that way. I really haven't." Brennan said. Blaziken's crossed arms stance remained, as he listened to his trainer. Brennan could tell that Blaziken still wasn't buying his apology, even though Brennan was one-hundred percent speaking from the heart. "Look, there's something I want to give you. And, don't think of it as me trying to buy your forgiveness, because I'm not. It's just, something mom gave me when we visited her and dad last." He said, as he grabbed the black box off of the table. He opened the lid and showed Blaziken what was inside.

Resting on the soft black velvet padding was a Blazikenite Mega Stone resting inside a black and red armband, and a key stone that was embedded in a black bracelet. Blaziken stared down at the two objects, as Brennan continued.

"This is a Mega Stone and a Key Stone. By the time Mom gave them to me, we were already at the end of our journey. And since we were taking time off from battling, I didn't think we really needed them. So I tucked them into my dresser drawer when we moved in here, and that's where they've been ever since." Brennan explained. Blaziken continued to stare down at the items, still somewhat surprised by them.

Brennan sat the box back down and pulled the bracelet out of it, staring at it for several seconds once it was in his hand.

"I'm going to wear this. You can wear yours if you want to. But I'm not going to make you." Brennan said, before sliding the bracelet onto his wrist. Once he had it on, he looked at it, before quickly showing Blaziken. "The thing about these stones, though, is in order to Mega Evolve, the trainer and the Pokémon who posses them's bond has to be really strong. I... think our's is still strong. At least, I hope it is." He continued, the sadness of the situation finally getting to him. Blaziken stared at his trainer for several seconds, before looking back down at the armband.

Brennan fell silent. The emotions were now getting to him. He didn't know what else to say. He wanted to say more, but he couldn't.

"It's there if you want to wear it. Okay, buddy?" Brennan said curiously, before walking past his Pokémon and out of the kitchen. Blaziken stood there silent, staring ahead, before looking back down at the armband that still rested in the box.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir had just gotten out of the shower and was getting ready. She grabbed her new underwear and stared at them for several seconds. She leaned down and lifted one of her legs a couple inches off the ground, allowing her to slip them on. After doing the same thing on the other side, she pulled them up, slightly blushed when she felt the soft fabric press against her honeypot.

Next, she grabbed the bra. Once again, she stared at it for several seconds, before sliding her arms through it and pulling it up. It pressed against her breasts snuggly, but she did have to admit, it did feel a little weird. She used her telekinesis to clasp it up on the back, remembering how Luna showed her to do it.

After, she looked down at herself, before stepping in front of the mirror. She stood there staring at her reflection. It didn't take long for her to come to the conclusion that whether she wore underwear or not, she would still never be as beautiful as someone like Luna. She shook her head, before walking back over to her dress. She grabbed it and put it on quickly, she was tired of seeing her body.

She finished getting herself ready, before finally exiting the bathroom. She headed back towards Brennan's room to drop off her pajamas. When she walked in, she saw him sitting on the bed. She blushed when she did.

Brennan sat in silence staring down at the carpet. He had come in there to try and calm himself down after his confrontation and somewhat failed apology attempt toward Blaziken.

"G-Gardevoir?" Gardevoir asked, as she floated into the room. Brennan looked up at her, giving her a smile as he did.

"Good morning, Gardevoir. Glad you slept well last night." He replied. Brennan could sense that she was curious if he was okay or not, so he knew he had to reassure her. "Everything is fine. I just... have some things on my mind is all." He said, looking back down as he did. He quickly regretted even going that far. The last he wanted was for her to find out that she was the only thing he had been able to think about.

Gardevoir knew better. She knew that clearly something was wrong. But, instead of pushing it and making things even more awkward between them, she decided to leave it be for the moment. She tossed her clothes in the hamper Brennan had by the dresser, before floating back to the door. She was on her way out to go get something to eat, when her stomach growled, getting Brennan to look back up. Gardevoir blushed a deep shade of red, once again embarrassed by what had happened.

Brennan let out a light chuckle. He knew she was embarrassed by that, he could feel it. But it clearly wasn't anything she should have been embarrassed about.

"Come on, I'll make you some breakfast." Brennan said, as he stood up and headed for the door. He motioned for the still embarrassed Gardevoir to follow him out of the room as he did. She stood for several seconds, before finally doing so.

After that, the day was pretty lazy. Not much happened besides the group sitting around in the living room and watching tv. At one point, Luna called and said she wanted to drop by and help Gardevoir make some adjustments to her knew clothes so her spike would fit in them comfortably. But something came up, so she had to cancel.

As they sat on the couch, Brennan looked over at Blaziken. He saw that the armband was resting against the bright red fur on his right arm. He smiled when he did. Blaziken had accepted the armband. Brennan took this as a positive, and one step closer to getting his best friend back.


	16. Chapter 16

After spending the whole day lazily watching tv, the clock hit eleven before anyone even realized it. Brennan really just wanted the day to be over, so he decided to go and try and get some sleep. He was still beat after his previous sleepless night, so sleep was something he was desperate for at that point. He stood up and stretched, before looking back at his Pokémon.

"I'm going to get some sleep. You guys are welcome to stay up, just behave." He said.

"Champ." Machamp replied, realizing that Blaziken wasn't going to. Brennan nodded, before looking over at Gardevoir.

"Just come on back whenever. You, too, buddy." He said, as he gave Mightyena a quick pat on the head. Mightyena's tail started wagging as he did. Brennan let out a little chuckle, before turning and making his way towards his bedroom. "Goodnight, guys." He called, as he disappeared down the hallway.

Gardevoir sat and watched him as he did. She wanted to go back there and go to sleep, too. But, at the same time, she felt like she wanted to wait a little while and make sure he was asleep before she went in there. She figured maybe that way, she'd feel a little less dirty when she got in bed with him.

She sat debating it for several minutes, until Mightyena got up and started making his way to the bedroom. He was obviously going to bed. She figured, since Mightyena was in there now, her and Brennan wouldn't be alone, regardless of whether he was awake still or not.

Gardevoir got up and exited the living room, not saying a word to the others as she did. As she floated down the hallway, she saw that the bedroom light was already off. She took that as a good sign.

She floated into the room and over to her pajamas. She left them in the same place every morning so she always knew where they were. She grabbed them and headed back out of the room and into the bathroom to change. She took several minutes in there, wanting to waste as much time as possible before she went back into the bedroom. Again, she was hoping by the time she actually went to crawl into bed, Brennan would be asleep.

But, once she was finally dressed, she slowly opened the bathroom door and headed back for the bedroom. Once again she entered the dark room. She could hear the creaking of the bed which meant someone must have moved. She hoped it was Mightyena. She gently laid her dress down on the dresser, before making her way over to the bed.

She stared at it for several seconds, before carefully crawling onto it. She took it as slow as possible crawling up to her pillow. She froze several times; the squeakiness of the springs in the mattress almost blowing her cover. But she finally made it to her pillow. She mentally sighed in relief, before pulling the cover up and sliding underneath it.

Once she was settled, she closed her eyes ready to try and get some sleep.

"Goodnight, Gardevoir." Brennan said quietly. Gardevoir tensed up when she heard him. He sounded like he was half asleep, so she was hoping she didn't wake him up.

"G-Gardevoir." She replied, slightly flushed by the fact that even half asleep, he still bothered to tell her goodnight.

She once again went back to trying to fall asleep, hoping that she would be able to. It took several minutes of uncomfortably rolling around and trying to keep inappropriate thoughts about Brennan out of her head. But, eventually, she was finally able to doze off.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir slowly opened her eyes. She saw that she was in the middle of the forest. But she didn't know why. She sat up and started looking around, that's when she recognized the area. She shook her head, as she quickly climbed to her feet. Once she was standing up again, only then did she realize she wasn't as tall as she had been before. In fact, she was tiny.

She looked down at herself. Her long flowing white dress had been replaced by an oversized white nightgown. She felt the top of her head and quickly realized that she wasn't her fully evolved Gardevoir self anymore, she was a Ralts again.

She was confused; scared even. She didn't know what happened or what to do. She spun around, hoping to see anything that could help her. And then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something quickly disappearing further into the forest. It had been watching her.

She quickly followed it, to the best of her ability of course. She popped through a bush and saw another clearing, and what was standing in that clearing was a Gardevoir. But it wasn't just any Gardevoir, it was Ralts mom. She knew it was. She could feel it deep down inside of her.

The Gardevoir looked at her as she slowly approached it; tears escaping from her eyes as she did.

"Momma...?" Ralts whimpered quietly. She didn't even notice that she just spoke English. The Gardevoir smiled down at the young, crying Ralts.

"You're going to be okay, my daughter. I know you are." She spoke. Her voice was so angelic- so calming.

Ralts slowly started making her way towards the large Gardevoir, but, it seemed like she never got any closer, no matter how far she went. The Gardevoir smiled down at the small Ralts, as she backed away into a large bush.

"Momma! Wait!" Ralts cried out, as she picked up her speed, running through the bush the Gardevoir had disappeared in.

She ran through it expecting to see the Gardevoir on the other side. But, what she saw instead, was... nothing. Trees and bushes were the only things there, the Gardevoir- her mother... had vanished. Ralts shook her head, as more tears ran down her pale cheeks.

She refused to believe that her mom had vanished. In a fit of sadness and frustration, she began quickly running again. She was moving straight, not having any sort of real destination besides to find her mom. She ran and ran and ran, until she realized something was changing. She was somehow growing taller. She didn't know why.

She looked down at herself and saw that the oversized white gown she had been wearing, was now replaced by a white tutu; her long, skinny green legs now visible. She didn't bother stopping to see if she could confirm her assumptions. It was easy to tell that she had somehow turned into Kirlia. Her long, green ponytails brushed against her shoulders as she continued to move forward.

She continued running straight, hoping that she was going to be able to find her mom again. But, what she found instead made her freeze. She had popped through another bush, and what was on the other side of it made her tears once again pick back up. Gothitelle stood with her back turned to Kirlia.

Kirlia slowly stepped out of the bush and inched closer to the Pokémon that raised her. Gothitelle turned around to face her, causing Kirlia to once again freeze in her tracks.

 _"Kirlia, there you are. I've already told you, you shouldn't run off like that_." Gothitelle spoke telepathically. Kirlia ran forward, colliding with Gothitelle; more tears pouring out of her eyes. Gothitelle stared down at the crying Pokémon, gently rubbing the back of her head. " _Calm down, child. There's nothing to cry about._ " She said, trying to cease Kirlia's crying.

Kirlia looked up at the older Pokémon, her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet from all the crying she had done. Gothitelle wiped her cheeks off, giving her a slight smile as she did.

" _All better_?" She asked. Kirlia didn't reply, she just went back to hugging her. She stood there, embracing the Pokémon, until a loud growl was heard, a loud growl that Kirlia knew very well.

Gothitelle looked around as three large Ursaring appeared in three different areas of the clearing they were standing in. Kirlia let out a loud cry as she grasped onto Gothitelle. Gothitelle pushed the younger, smaller Pokémon behind her, as she looked around at the three large Ursaring.

Gothitelle could tell that the Ursaring didn't plan on leaving without doing what they came to do. And there was no way she was going to risk Kirlia getting hurt.

" _Run, Kirlia_." Gothitelle said. Kirlia looked up at her and shook her head. She wasn't leaving her, not again. " _RUN_!" She yelled, startling the smaller Pokémon. Kirlia looked around as the Ursaring approached them. Gothitelle pulled Kirlia away from her and looked her dead in the eyes. " _YOU need to run, Kirlia_." She said. Kirlia couldn't do anything but let out little whimpers as she stared back at her.

Gothitelle turned back towards the Ursaring, as she got ready to fight back. Kirlia backed up a few feet, but froze. She didn't know why. She just... froze. She tried her best to move, but it was an action that seemed impossible. She let out a loud cry as one of the Ursaring swung as Gothitelle. Gothitelle somehow managed to dodge it. She then used telekinesis to push them backwards.

She turned her attention to the closest one to her and threw it back even further. But, she wasn't able to dodge another swing from behind. She let out a loud cry in pain, as one of the other Ursaring clawed the back of her head. Kirlia let out another loud cry as she watched. Gothitelle was slowly trying to push herself back up, when the Ursaring she had thrown charged at her and used slash, slashing her right across the face and down her chest. She let out another loud cry of pain, as she dropped back down to the ground.

Kirlia kicked, and cried, and struggled, doing everything she could possibly think of to do to be able to move, but she couldn't. Some kind of invisible, unseeable force was preventing her from doing so.

While the other two Ursaring were busy mauling the still loudly crying Gothitelle, the third one turned its attention to Kirlia. It snarled at her as it approached. Kirlia closed her eyes tight and looked away, as she cried in fear. The Ursaring reared its claws back and prepared to strike. Kirlia was waiting for it. Waiting to feel the large, sharp claws rip through his skin. But, it never happened.

She let out frightened whimpers, as she slowly opened one of her eyes. She was now taller than she had been previously. She looked down and saw that the tutu was now replaced by her usual white dress. She looked back up and saw Brennan standing in front of her. His arms wide out, as he shielded her from the Ursaring.

The relieved feeling she felt quickly turned to one of fear once she saw the blood dripping off of the Ursaring's claws.

"Voir!" She cried, not even noticing that her ability to speak English was gone again. Brennan dropped down to his knees, before landing in a puddle of his own blood. She stared down at his unmoving body, once again trying to break free from her invisible shackles. She looked up again when she heard the Ursaring growl once again.

He slowly stepped over Brennan, making the gap between them smaller. He let out a loud roar, before lifting his claws, seconds away from slashing Gardevoir. She cried loudly and closed her eyes tight.

•••

•••

•••

"V-Voir... Voir. G-Gardevoir. GARDEVOIR! GARDE-VOIR!" Gardevoir cried out, as she woke from her dream turned nightmare. She quickly sat up, tears pouring from her eyes as she did.

In the midst of her panic, Brennan woke up, quickly sitting up and looking around the dark room.

"H-huh?!" Brennan exclaimed, confused as to what was going on. Once he heard Gardevoir crying, he turned the lamp on that rested on his nightstand. As the light lit up the room, he turned towards the weeping Pokémon. She sat with her back against the headboard, hugging her knees to her chest, as she continued to cry.

Mightyena had jumped up ready to attack. He grew just as confused as Brennan when he saw Gardevoir crying.

"Gardevoir, hey, what's wrong?" Brennan asked, very worried at this point. Gardevoir sat with her eyes closed as she continued to cry. "Gardevoir?" He said curiously, as he slowly reached a hand over to her.

A soft whimper escaped her, as she let out out a frightened jolt. Brennan quickly reclined his hand, as Gardevoir tearfully opened one of her eyes. "Gardevoir, it's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm not going to hurt you." He said softly.

Gardevoir stared at him, as tears continued to run down her cheeks. She stared into his eyes and saw nothing but worry; the worry he was feeling for her. That just made her cry harder.

Brennan got on his knees and maneuvered his way over to her. He stared at her for several seconds, before slowly wrapping his arms around her.

"Shh. It's okay, I got you." He said softly, as he gently held her in his arms. Gardevoir buried her face into his chest and clutched on his shirt as her tears continued. He slowly rubbed her back, letting her get out whatever she needed to.

He didn't know what had happened. He assumed it was a bad dream, but now wasn't the time to ask. The only thing he cared about at that moment was comforting Gardevoir. It broke his heart seeing her upset the way she was.

Mightyena had sat there watching the two. His first response was to go and comfort. That's what he usually did when Brennan was upset. But this time, he didn't know what to do.

Gardevoir held onto Brennan's shirt tightly. After seeing what she did in her dream, she didn't want to let him go. She was scared. Scared that she would lose him. Her dream... it felt so real. More real than she would have liked.

Brennan continued rubbing Gardevoir's back until her sobs finally slowed into sniffles, before she was finally silenced. Even though she had stopped crying, she still didn't budge though, and Brennan didn't mind.

She felt safe in his arms; like nothing could hurt her. Like nothing bad could happen to her. She wanted to stay that way.

Brennan looked down at her, before resting his lips softly on the top of her head. He held them there for several seconds, before removing them. Gardevoir finally looked up at him. The two of them locked eyes.

"Its okay. You don't have to be scared. I won't let anything happen to you." Brennan said in a soft, comforting voice. Gardevoir could feel that he was telling her the truth. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, and she wouldn't let anything happen to him.

Brennan gently placed his hands on Gardevoir's cheeks and wiped the remaining wetness off of her face. Her eyes were red from all the crying she had done, but she was more calmed down now, which Brennan was really happy about. He held his hands on her cheeks, as they refused to break their eye contact. Feeling his warm hands caressing her face like he was doing made a shiver run through Gardevoir.

As they stared into each others eyes, they could both feel something that was new to them. A feeling that... neither one of them were used to.

Brennan felt a strong urge to lean in and kiss her. He wanted to... but he couldn't. He finally broke eye contact with her, before clearing his throat.

"So... we may as well try and go back to sleep. It's only three." He said. Gardevoir looked down, disappointed by this. Unbeknownst to Brennan, she had also felt a strong urge to lean in and kiss him. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Brennan made his way back over to his side of the bed and slid back under the covers. He was getting ready to turn the lamp back off, when he realized Mightyena was already fast asleep once again. He couldn't help but let out an almost inaudible chuckle. He figured that he probably checked out once he saw Brennan had everything under control.

He went back to getting ready to turn the lamp off, when he saw Gardevoir was just sitting there, staring down at the blanket.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked. Gardevoir nodded, finally making her way back to her spot. She pulled the covers over herself, but she still didn't lye down. "Gardevoir, are you thirsty or something? Because I can go get you a glass of water." He offered. Gardevoir shook her head.

"Voir. G-Gardevoir. Garde..." She started, slightly blushing as she trailed off. She did her best to avoid all eye contact with Brennan, as she tried to force out the question she wanted to ask.

"What is it, Gardevoir?" Brennan asked. He knew she was wanting to ask a question, he just didn't know what that question was.

"G-Gardevoir. Garde...?" She finally asked, her face turning even more of a red color as she did. She made a slight hugging motion with her arms. Brennan quickly realized she had asked if she could cuddle him.

"W-well, I mean, I-I suppose t-that would be okay." He replied, a little embarrassed himself. He scratched the back of his head, as somewhat of a small flush ran over his face. Gardevoir finally looked back at him as he replied. They stared at each other again for several seconds, before Brennan finally turned back to the light. He turned it off, before lying back down.

There was a silence for several seconds, until Brennan finally heard the creaking of the bed, as Gardevoir made her way over to him. He felt her slowly down next to him, before cuddling into his side. She finally rested her head on his shoulder, before relaxing.

"Are you comfortable?" Brennan asked.

"V-Voir." Gardevoir replied in a very embarrassed tone.

"That's good." Brennan replied.

Again, several more seconds of silence passed, before Brennan gently wrapped his left arm around her. A small smile crossed Gardevoir's face as he did. She started feeling a little more daring after that, so she snuggled more into him and draped her left arm over his chest. Even though it was too dark to really see her, Brennan slowly rested his lips against the top of her head again. He held them there for several seconds, before finally removing them.

"Goodnight, Gardevoir." He said. Gardevoir's smile remained on her face as she closed her eyes in hopes of getting back to sleep. She was at peace right now. She wanted it to stay like that.

"Gardevoir." She replied in a whisper. After, silence once again filled the room for several more minutes, until Brennan finally spoke once again figuring Gardevoir was asleep.

"Gardevoir, what are you doing to me?" Brennan asked almost inaudibly, as he stared down at the Pokémon in his arms. He was unaware that she was indeed awake, and she heard him. He wrapped his other arm around her, holding her tight, and rested his cheek against the top of her head, holding it there as he once again closed his eyes, ready to drift back to sleep.

•••

When the morning finally came, Gardevoir awoke still in Brennan's arms. She immediately smiled as she snuggled into him.

Brennan slowly opened his eyes when he felt her movement. He had been awake for almost an hour already, but tried going to back to sleep because he didn't want to wake Gardevoir.

"You awake, Gardevoir?" Brennan asked, getting her to open her eyes and look up at him. Once the most beautiful eyes in the world met his, he smiled. "Good morning." He said.

"Gardevoir." She replied.

"So... there's something that I want to show you." Brennan said.

"Voir?" Gardevoir asked. Even though he didn't want to, Brennan sat up, forcing Gardevoir to do the same. She was disappointed by this.

"Get dressed. We have to walk there." Brennan replied, as he pushed the covers off of him and stood up. Gardevoir watched him as he walked over to the dresser, opened it, and grabbed a shirt from one drawer, and a pair of jeans from another. Once he walked out of the room to change, Gardevoir crawled to his side of the bed, threw her legs off, and stood up.

She floated over to the dresser and grabbed her dress. She looked over at Mightyena and saw that he was still sound asleep. She turned towards the door and looked down the hallway, seeing that both Machamp and Blaziken were still knocked out too. After, she decided it was safe enough to quickly change in the bedroom. She pushed the door closed and stripped out of her pajamas, before putting her dress back on.

She tossed her pajamas back on the dresser, before heading out of the room. As she floated down the hallway, Brennan walked out of the bathroom. They almost ran into each other, but Brennan stopped.

"Just let me toss these in the room and I'll be ready." Brennan said. Gardevoir nodded, before continuing her way down the hallway.

As she waited for Brennan, she couldn't help but think back to last night. When they were staring into each others eyes, she was starting to regret the fact that she didn't kiss him. Something deep down inside of her told her to, but she just couldn't.

The feelings she felt, and the feelings Brennan felt... they were... special.

Gardevoir was broke from her thoughts when Brennan appeared in the room. He walked past her, not saying a word, and motioned for her to follow him.

He led her out of the apartment and down the stairs to the back of the building. As they walked, he could sense Gardevoir's confusion and curiosity, so he figured he would explain.

"There's this trail back here. It's leads to one of my places to think about things. It helps me clear my head, ya know?" He said curiously. Gardevoir looked at him and nodded.

Brennan had made the walk down the trail more times than he could count since he lived there. It was just something that relaxed him.

The trail was surrounded by trees, so it was nice and shady. And when the wind was blowing, it made it even better.

But, something Brennan liked about the trail even more than that was the pond that rested at the end of it. The pond was surrounded by trees just like the trail leading to it was. But there was a clearing above it so when the sun shone through, the water sparkled a beautiful blue color.

Brennan liked sitting in the grass, watching all the small fish Pokémon swim around. His Pokémon rather enjoyed it too.

He had thought about the trail a lot as he and Gardevoir laid in bed last night. He and his Pokémon enjoyed it, so he figured she would too.

As they walked, Brennan looked over at Gardevoir. A small smile crept onto his face as he did. She wasn't like other Gardevoir', not in the slightest. Sure, Gardevoir' are well known for their beauty. But, this Gardevoir, she had to be the most beautiful. There is no way a Gardevoir more beautiful than the one that was gliding along side him existed. It was impossible. And if someone tried to tell him otherwise, he wouldn't believe it.

It took several seconds of Brennan staring, before Gardevoir finally looked over at him. She blushed, before quickly looking away. Brennan could feel the nervousness building up inside of her.

"Hey, you don't have to be nervous around me." Brennan said, still not taking his eyes off of her. Gardevoir bit her bottom lip, still not able to look back at him. She couldn't. Every time she even thought about him, they were doing some kind of forbidden act of love that human and Pokémon shouldn't be doing. "Gardevoir, I- GAH!" He exclaimed, as a sharp, electric charge was sent coursing through his body.

Brennan fell to the ground, unmoving. Gardevoir's eyes grew wider than they already were, as she got down next to his motionless body. She put her hands on his back and tried shaking him awake. It didn't work.

"V-Voir?!" She exclaimed, as she kept shaking him. As she did, she looked back to where the attack came from. Standing in the middle of the trail was Simon and a very angry looking Raichu with spiky fur on the top of his head.

Simon stood with a scowl on his face, until he made eye contact with Gardevoir.

"Hey, Gardevoir. Remember me?" Simon asked as a mocking smirk formed on his face. That scar... Gardevoir remembered the scar. It was the guy from the mall; the one that tried to convince Brennan to sell her to him.

As he finished, Gardevoir heard rustling in the bushes behind her. She turned around as two Ursaring stepped out onto the trail. She shook her head, as her heartbeat picked up. She heard the same rustling sound on the opposite side of the trail, getting her attention. She looked over as another Ursaring appeared from behind the tree line. All three of them were wearing matching black armbands.

"Now, you should remember these guys. Apparently, they don't like you too much." Simon said, getting Gardevoir to look at him. She felt threatened, and she knew if she was going to protect Brennan, she was going to have to fight.

She stood up, a determined, yet angry expression forming on her face. Simon chuckled.

"That's not a good idea." He said. Gardevoir ignored him as she charged a shadow ball.

"Gard-e-Voir!" She yelled, as she sent it flying towards Simon. Raichu jumped up and used lightning bolt, blocking it from hitting him.

Gardevoir narrowed her eyes at the mouse Pokémon. She was charging up another, when one of the Ursaring charged at her. She caught it with her telekinesis, and launched it backwards towards the Ursaring it had entered the scene next to. Gardevoir turned her attention to the third Ursaring, but before she could do anything, she was hit hard from behind. She let out a surprised, yet loud cry in pain as she fell to the ground.

Nelson and his Zoroark had appeared on the trail opposite of Simon and Raichu. Zoroark took advantage of the distracted Gardevoir and used Punishment. He hit Gardevoir so hard, he downed her in one blow.

Gardevoir dizzily and weakly looked up towards her attacker. She saw the spiky furred Zoroark standing before her. She weakly tried to push herself to her back up, but collapsed back to the ground.

"G-Garde... V-Voir." She whimpered, as she tried crawling towards Brennan. Simon watched with a smirk on his face, as he pulled out a Poké ball. He threw the ball towards Gardevoir. It bounced off of her before opening up. A bright flash was seen as Gardevoir was sucked inside. The ball dropped to the ground...

One shake... Two shakes... Three shakes... Stop.

A click noise was heard as the ball came to a stop. Simon's smirk remained on his face as he stared at the still ball.

Nelson walked over to the ball and snatched it off of the ground. He stared at it for several seconds, before looking down at Brennan's still unmoving body. Simon walked over and grabbed the ball out of Nelson's hands, before clicking it onto his belt.

"You're fucking lucky that this stupid plan of yours worked." Nelson said, as he stared at Simon. Simon huffed as he began walking.

"Lets go, Raichu." Simon said, as he motioned for his Pokémon to follow. Nelson stood there watching him walk off, before motioning for the three Ursaring to follow.

"Cocky prick." Nelson muttered to himself, as he shook his head.

They walked off with Gardevoir, leaving Brennan lying unconscious on the dirt trail.


	17. Chapter 17

"He... ster... al...right?" A faint voice asked. "Mi...ter?"

Brennan's eyes slowly opened. He started pushing himself up, but his body hurt. Every single part of it. He was confused, not knowing where he was or what had happened.

"Hey. Are you alright?" The unfamiliar voice asked again. Brennan, who was now on his hands and knees trying to remember what had happened, looked over and saw a women, who must have been in her late thirties, and a young boy, presumably her son, standing there.

"I... I uh-" Brennan started trying to speak, but stopped once he realized Gardevoir wasn't with him. He got on his knees and quickly looked around, seeing no sign of the Pokémon. "No. No. No. No. No." He repeated quietly, over and over again as he stood up, ignoring the tremendous amount of pain he was currently in. "Gardevoir. Gardevoir! Gardevoir!" He called out, as he frantically looked around.

The woman and her son stood there watching him, as his panic set in.

"H-have you seen a Gardevoir around here?" Brennan asked quickly, as he approached the woman. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry. No I haven't." She replied. Brennan shook his head, not knowing what to think at this point. He quickly tried to come up with anything. Then he realized that she may have gone the rest of the way down the trail to see the pond.

He quickly took off running as fast as he possibly could down the trail. He was hoping that when he got there, Gardevoir would be standing in front of the pond admiring the water.

His heart was getting ready to beat out of his chest. The pain he was feeling was completely gone at this point due to all the adrenaline he currently had coursing through him.

He finally reached the end of the trail, sliding to a stop as he did. He looked around seeing the same beautiful view he saw every time he traveled there. But... there was no sign of Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir?!" Brennan called, as he frantically circled the pond. But he still didn't see anything. "GARDEVOIR!" He yelled as loud as he could. The rustling of leaves were heard, as a couple of Swellow that had been perched in a near by tree flew off, startled by Brennan's yelling.

Brennan shook his head as he watched them. He quickly circled back around to face the pond once again. He was hoping that Gardevoir would be there this time, but she wasn't.

Finally realizing she wasn't there, he took off running as fast as he could back down the trail. Maybe she went back to the apartment? Brennan hoped she did.

He ran as fast as he legs would carry him, not slowing down for anything. His heart was pounding even harder, as sweat ran down his face, matting his bangs to his forehead.

He was scared. He was hoping that he would get back to his apartment, and Gardevor would be in the kitchen, or the livingroom, or the bedroom, or something. Maybe she was feeling sick and headed back? Again, at least that's what Brennan hoped.

He finally saw his apartment building in the distance. His panting only got heavier as he tried to run faster than he already was. He felt like he was about to have a heart attack. But he couldn't stop- he refused to.

He reached the stairs and ran up them, almost tripping as he did. But he still didn't stop. He made it to his apartment and burst through the door, startling both Blaziken and Machamp. They both quickly jumped up, as Brennan ran to the kitchen. They were confused.

Brennan quickly ran to the kitchen and saw that Gardevoir wasn't in there. He quickly turned around on his heels and headed back towards the living room.

"Gardevoir!" Brennan yelled, as he ran down the hallway. He opened up the hall closest as he did. Nothing. Then was Roserade and Sandslash's room. Nothing. He did however wake them up with his yelling. "Gardevoir!" He yelled again, as he rushed into the bathroom and ripped the shower curtain open. Nothing. He ran out of the bathroom and threw his bedroom door open, Mightyena jumped up in surprise as he did. He turned the light on ran to the closet, pulling the door open. Still no Gardevoir.

Brennan spun around to face the opposite direction, pulling on his hair as he stood staring at the wall opposite of the closet. His breathing was heavy. His heart had yet to stop pounding.

Mightyena stood on the bed, staring at Brennan in confusion. He was as lost as the others were when it came to knowing what was going on.

"No, no, no, no, no." Brennan once again muttered over and over to himself, as he slowly shook his head. He exited his room and headed back down the hallway. Mightyena jumped off of the bed and followed behind him.

Roserade and Sandslash had been standing outside the door of their room, staring down the hallway into Brennan's. They stepped out of the way when Brennan came walking back down the hallway. He passed them and went back into the living room.

Blaziken and Machamp stood there, staring at their trainer, as Mightyena, Roserade, and Sandslash entered the room.

"Machamp?" Machamp asked, finally breaking the silence. Brennan didn't look up at his Pokémon. His body was shaking, he felt sick to his stomach, he didn't know what to do.

"G-Gardevoir... she's-she's." Brennan started, before stopping, as he once again shook his head.

His Pokémon waited for him to finish, but he didn't. He quickly pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Luna's phone number. The phone rang three times before she finally answered.

"Hello?" Luna said.

"L-Luna, can you come over... please? G-Gardevoir..." Brennan was saying, before stopping as tears fought to escape him.

"Brennan, what's wrong with Gardevoir?" Luna asked. She could easily tell with the way Brennan sounded that something had happened.

"S-she's gone." Brennan replied in a sad, yet low tone.

"Gone? What do you mean she's gone?" Luna asked.

"She's gone! P-please will you just... Come over?" Brennan snapped in frustration, immediately regretting doing so, as the sadness returned to his voice.

"Don't worry, I will be over as soon as I can get there. Just... relax until then, okay?" Luna said, hoping she could calm him down just a little bit.

"Yeah-yeah, sure." Brennan replied. He hung up with Luna and just stood in the middle of the living room with his phone still in his hand. His Pokémon continued to stare at him. They were all equally as surprised finding out that Gardevoir was apparently gone. Even Blaziken was surprised, which he never thought he would be.

Brennan finally started pacing back and fourth in the middle of the living room, as he waited for Luna to get there. She had always been there for him when he needed help. So obviously she was going to be the first person he called. Not that he had too many options regardless.

Brennan's heart hadn't stopped racing. He had seriously never been more scared-more worried in his life before. He continued to pace back and forth, until there was a knock on the door. He quickly approached the door and pulled it open, standing on the outside were Luna, Lane, Frankie, and Delohox.

"Brennan, have you heard anything from Gardevoir?" Was the first thing that came out of Luna's mouth. Brennan shook his head, before turning his back and continuing with his nervous pacing. The others walked in, and closed the door behind them.

"So what exactly happened?" Lane asked.

"Uh... Gardevoir and I went out for a walk this morning. I-I was going to show her the lake at the end of that trail behind the building. We were walking...and-and all the sudden I felt some kind of electric charge, and then I blacked out. When I came to, Gardevoir was gone." Brennan explained. He was shaking, Luna could see that.

"Brennan-Brennan, sit down. Sit down and try to calm down." Luna said, as she placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to cease his pacing.

"How do you expect me to calm down when Gardevoir is out there somewhere?" Brennan asked, looking over at her. His worry was very apparent. He had been one of Luna's bestfriends for a long time, and throughout all the years they had known each other, she had never seen him so worried and upset before.

"Brennan, please." Luna pleaded with him. It was clear to Brennan that Luna was worried about him. And he already knew she had his best interest in mind. He sighed and nodded, before finally sitting down on the edge of the coffee table. A small, relieved smile crossed Luna's face as he did. "Thank you." She thanked him softly.

"So... lets go over this again. You and Gardevoir decided to go on a walk at eight o'clock in the morning, without telling your other Pokémon where you were going. And because of that, you got attacked...from behind, and blacked out, and when you woke up, Gardevoir was gone?" Frankie said curiously, trying to understand the story. Brennan looked up at him, before giving him an almost un-noticeable nod. He did realize after Frankie had said it that he probably should have woke up his other Pokémon and at least told them where they were going. It's just... he wanted to be alone with Gardevoir; to enjoy the beautiful pond, with the cool morning air blowing on them. "Don't you think it would have been a little more- I don't know... smart? To at least warn your Pokémon that you were going out? Heck, maybe they could have prevented this." He continued.

Brennan already knew he was right about. He should have told his Pokémon his plans. But being scolded by him at that moment for making a dumb mistake is not something he wanted to deal with. He had more important things to worry about. Like finding Gardevoir, for instance.

"I'm sorry, Brennan, but I have to agree with him on this one. It was a pretty bad idea to go out without letting your other Pokémon go with you, or at least letting them know you were leaving." Lane said. Brennan looked down towards the floor, not even wanting to reply to that.

"Guys, stop." Luna said, as she looked over at the two males. Brennan was hurting. She knew that. They were there to help him, not make him feel worse than he already did.

"No, Luna. They're right. I should have told the others. But I didn't. That was my mistake, and I can't let Gardevoir pay for it." Brennan said, as he finally looked up at the group.

"Are you sure she was even kidnapped? I mean, what's the possibility that she left on her own?" Frankie asked.

"No." Brennan replied almost immediately after Frankie finished. "N-no. She wouldn't leave on her own. I know she wouldn't." He said, slightly shaking his head as he did. He refused to believe that Gardevoir would just decide to leave on her own. Especially after the previous night. He could just feel her happiness as she cuddled into his side and slept in his arms. She wouldn't just decide to give that all up would she?

"Gardevoir wouldn't do that. Did you guys see how happy she was the other day?" Luna asked, taking Brennan's side in the matter. Frankie and Lane nodded in response.

"But even if she didn't leave on her own, who would want to kidnap her?" Lane asked. Pokémon getting kidnapped from their trainers' was nothing new. But it was very rare that reports of kidnappings came out in Slateport.

"I don't know. That's a good questions." Luna said, before looking back at Brennan. "Brennan, since you've met her, have you spotted or met anyone that would want to hurt Gardevoir, or maybe acted a little weird around her?" She asked. Brennan thought about it a minute. No one immediately came to his mind.

"No. The first time we went out in public together after I brought her back here was when we went to the mall the other day." He replied. That's when he remembered something. Something that may be very crucial. "Wait. That guy." He said.

"What guy?" Luna asked.

"The guy from the mall. Uh... after we went to the cart that sold the berries, Gardevoir and I were stopped by this guy. He was blonde, and was wearing a really cheap looking suit, and had a scar over his left eye. He asked me if I would sell him Gardevoir. I had to tell him no three times, and it probably pissed him off." Brennan replied.

"Oh, that's right. You told us about that guy the other day." Lane said. Brennan nodded.

"I took care of it, or... at least I thought I did. The dude didn't look like he was even the slightest bit harmful. He looked like he still lived with his mom." He said.

"But do you really think that guy was the one who did it? I mean, why would he go through the trouble to stalk you, attack you, and steal your Gardevoir?" Luna asked.

"It has to be him. No one else seemed to have an interest in Gardevoir, at least no one I noticed." Brennan replied.

"Well, then we should go back to the mall and see if we can find him." Luna suggested. Brennan nodded.

"Yeah... we should." He said, before finally standing back up.

"Hold on. Do you really think that guy would go back to the mall after attacking someone and kidnapping a Pokémon?" Lane asked. "I don't think anyone is that dumb." He continued.

"You haven't said anything in awhile. What do you think, Frankie?" Luna asked, as she looked over at him. Frankie looked around at his three friends, before nodding.

"Oh, uh... yeah. Maybe checking the mall is a good idea. Even if he's not there, we may still run into him in the city." He replied. He grew somewhat fidgety when he did.

"Okay, then. It's settled. Lets head for the city, and fast. The last thing we want to do is miss the guy if he's actually there." Luna said.

Luna took the lead out of the apartment as everyone else followed behind. They started the walk towards the city, but the whole time they walked, Brennan couldn't get rid of the sick feeling in his stomach.

The pain he was feeling after being electrocuted unconscious was nothing compared to how he felt knowing Gardevoir was out there somewhere, probably scared to death. Just the thought of her being more scared than she was last night, and him not being there to comfort her made tears swell up in his eyes. He quickly blinked them away, knowing crying was the last thing he needed to be doing at that moment.

"So this guy, did he have a name?" Luna asked, as she slowed to allow Brennan to catch up to her.

"It was Irwin something... I think. He told me his whole name, I just don't remember it." He replied honestly, as he looked over at her. Luna nodded.

"If he really was the guy behind it, we'll find him. Don't worry." She said, trying to reassure Brennan. He stared at her for several seconds, before looking straight again, not saying a word as he did. He just hoped she was right.

Blaziken and Delphox had been tailing behind the others. Delphox was just as worried about Gardevoir as the others were. She was clutched on to Blaziken's arm for slight comfort. Blaziken couldn't help but stare ahead at Brennan. He knew that Brennan cared about Gardevoir. It was obvious. And even though he didn't care for her personally, Blaziken would never wish something like this on any Pokémon. He honestly felt bad for Brennan.

After a long, miserable walk, they finally saw the city up ahead, this is when Brennan's speed picked up, as he ran towards it.

"Brennan! Wait!" Luna exclaimed, as she ran after him. The others followed behind her.

"Gardevoir!" Brennan called, as he started his run towards the mall. He was ignoring all the passerby's who decided to stop and look at him. He didn't give a damn what any of them thought at that particular moment. "Gardevoir!" He called again, as he frantically ran through the busy, city streets. He was hoping by even the slightest chance she would hear him and come floating into his arms. But she didn't.

Luna eventually caught up to Brennan, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Hey! Brennan! Stop!" Luna said. Brennan stopped running. Staring ahead from where he stood. Luna walked in front of him and saw the tears once again building up in his eyes. "Hey. It's okay. We'll find her." She said very softly. Brennan looked away from her, before his eyes once again traveled back. He sniffled and wiped the tears that had escaped, before nodding.

"Yeah-yeah, I... know." He replied. Luna stared at him for several more seconds, before nodding. The others caught up to them as she did.

"Lets get to the mall." Luna said. Brennan slightly nodded, before continuing his walk. Luna stared at him as he walked away, before looking back at the others. She motioned for them to follow.

Once they reached the mall, Brennan stopped at the same fountain he and Gardevoir had thrown their wish coin into. He looked away and closed his eyes tight, before shaking his head. He took a deep breath, before continuing on his way.

He reached the mall doors and headed inside, not waiting for the others. He quickly ran through the mall, bumping into patrons as he did. He ran straight towards the spot where the man had stopped him and Gardevoir.

"Hey! No running in the mall!" A security guard yelled from across the way, as Brennan ran through the mall. He didn't stop. He didn't even acknowledge the guard. "Hey!" The guard exclaimed, as he quickly started making his way towards Brennan.

"Brennan! Hey!" Luna yelled from behind, as she tried to catch up to him.

Brennan made it to the spot where the man had confronted him and Gardevoir, but there was no sign of him; No sign of Gardevoir either. Brennan shook his head as he looked around, trying to see if he could spot either one of them in the crowed.

"Hey! I was talking to you!" The security guard exclaimed, as he approached Brennan and roughly grabbed ahold of his shoulder. Brennan jerked away from him, as he turned to face him.

"I have more important things to worry about than you!" Brennan said, as he and the guard stared each other down. Luna ran up and pushed Brennan back.

"Brennan, calm down." She said. Brennan didn't take his eyes off of the guard. Luna turned around to face him.

"I'm sorry about that. He's upset." She said. The guard held eye contact with Brennan for several more seconds, before looking down at Luna.

"Doesn't give him the right to break the malls rules and then ignore me." The guard said.

"I'm trying to find the asshole that kidnapped my Gardevoir." Brennan said. Luna looked back at him, slightly surprised. Brennan was the kind of person that didn't cuss. So when he did, it was very shocking.

"That Gardevoir you were with the other day?" The guard asked. Brennan nodded.

"Yeah." He replied.

"That blonde guy you were talking to? The one with that really crappy looking suit. Is that who you're looking for?" The guard asked.

"That's exactly who I'm looking for." Brennan replied, a slight hint of anger present in his voice with his response.

"I saw that guy leave with another guy in a black jacket and a Zoroark that was wearing an armband. I think they may have been part of some group or something. At least, they looked like they were." The guard explained.

"Wasn't Delphox talking to a Zoroark?" Brennan asked, as he looked at Luna. She nodded.

"Yeah, she was." She replied in a worried tone.

"I don't mean to scare you, but they may even be part of that team of low life criminals that are always running around Hoenn looking for wild Pokémon." The guard said. Brennan hadn't heard much about this group, but he knew people didn't like them. He knew just about what the guard had just told him. But now worrying about them being behind kidnapping Gardevoir, it made him despise each and every one of them.

"I-I have to go." Brennan said, before turning around and speed walking back towards the entrance. Luna and the guard watched for several seconds, before looking back at each other.

"Look, I hope your friend finds his Pokémon." The guard said.

"Thank you." Luna thanked him, before heading after Brennan.

Brennan exited the mall, where his group had been waiting for his and Luna's return.

"Nothing?" Lane asked.

"The guard... he said he left with another guy wearing a black jacket and a Zoroark wearing an armband." Brennan replied, as he did, Luna approached them. Delphox grew slightly surprised when he said that. She knew it had to have been the Zoroark that was flirting with her.

"Black jacket and black armband?" Frankie said in a somewhat shaky voice. "Team Scavenge." He continued.

"Team Scavenge?" Brennan said curiously.

"They... capture wild Pokémon and experiment on them." Frankie explained. "But kidnapping Pokémon is something they aren't scared to do." He added. Brennan shook his head. His heart sank like a ship when he heard that.

"That's... horrible." Luna said, surprised and disgusted by what Frankie had just told them.

"Where do we find them? I'm going." Brennan said. He wasn't scared of them. But, he did know if any one of them laid their dirty, little fingers on Gardevoir, he would kill all of them.

"You aren't seriously thinking about going to find them by yourself are you?" Lane asked. Brennan nodded.

"Look, I appreciate your guys help, but this is my problem, not yours. I don't want you guys to have to be caught up with a team like that." He replied, Luna shook her head.

"Absolutely not. How could you say something like that?" She asked, clearly offended by what Brennan had just say. "You're our friend, and Gardevoir is too. You aren't going anywhere near them without us." She said very sternly. Delphox nodded in agreement.

"Yeah dude, come on. Did you really think you were going to be able to get rid of us that easy?" Lane asked.

"Thanks you guys." Brennan said, in a very thankful tone. Frankie sighed.

"Their headquarters is about a days walk out of the south side of the city. If we leave soon we should be there around this time tomorrow." He explained. Brennan nodded.

"Okay, lets go." He said.

"Wait. We can't go on a days walk without any sort of supplies, or at least water. We won't make it." Luna said.

"Yeah, heading home and gathering a couple of things shouldn't take too long." Lane said. Brennan didn't want to waste any time. He wanted to leave right then and start their walk towards Team Scavenge's headquarters. But he knew the others were right. They wouldn't be able to make a full days walk as unprepared as they currently were.

"Fine. But please, we can't take too long." He reluctantly agreed. Luna nodded.

"We won't." She said. Brennan barely nodded in response as he looked around, that's when his eyes stopped on the small clearing in the forest behind the mall where he and Gardevoir first met. He stared at it for several seconds, before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll find her." Luna repeated in a soft, reassuring tone. Brennan closed his eyes, his head dropping down as he did.

"Lets go." He said.

"Okay. We'll all meet back up at the south side route leading out of the city." Lane said. The others nodded in agreement, before everyone headed where they needed to.

Brennan didn't even wait for the others to head out, before he took off running back towards the trail at the end of town leading to his apartment. He again ran through the large crowed of people, as he raced towards the trail. He didn't show any signs of slowing even after he made it.

Brennan ran as fast as he could back towards his apartment, with his Pokémon running behind him. He wanted to get in, fill up his bag, and get out.

Once they made it there, he burst through the door and immediately headed towards his bedroom, while his Pokémon stopped to take a breather in the living room.

He grabbed his bag out of his closet, stopping once he saw Gardevoir's wardrobe. He took another deep breath, before turning around and rushing towards his dresser. He grabbed his cell phone, baseball cap, and hoodie, before clasping his Poké balls to his belt and heading out of the room. He ran back down the hallway and towards the kitchen, before grabbing a few water bottles and a box of granola bars and throwing them into the bag. After he had what he needed, he headed back into the living room.

"Lets go." Brennan said, as he headed to the front door. His Pokémon tiredly followed behind him. After they exited, he locked the door and pulled it closed, before immediately going back to running.

He ran all the way back down the trail and towards the meet up spot he and the others had agreed on, at the route leading out of the south side of the city. His Pokémon were somewhat relieved that the others weren't there yet, that way they got to take a breather after all the running.

Brennan started growing very impatient the longer it took them to get there. At one point, he was even thinking about leaving without them. But just as he thought about going through with it, they finally showed up.

"Do you guys got everything?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, we do." Luna replied.

"Okay, then lets go." Brennan said, before starting his walk down the old dirt road. The others followed behind.

As the group started their walk out of the city, Brennan started thinking. Gardevoir was the only thing he was going to be able to think about. He wanted her back. He wanted to know she was safe; that no one was hurting her. He was going to kill someone if they were... and he knew it. He was determined to find her, and he wasn't going to stop until he did.


	18. Chapter 18

Nelson and Simon had returned to The Scavenger's headquarters. They were currently walking down the decently lit hallway on their way to their bosses office. Simon hadn't been able to wipe his ridiculous grin off of his face the whole way back, and it was pissing Nelson off.

"You better not go in the bosses office with that stupid fucking grin on your face." Nelson said with his usual harsh, gruff tone. Simon huffed in response. He was going to enjoy this all he could, no matter what Nelson said. If it wasn't for his plan, they wouldn't have possession of the Gardevoir their boss wanted. And he was enjoying that fact.

The duo walked until they finally got to the large, double black door at the end of the hallway. On the door were two giant, gold cursive letters. A "G" and an "T." They were Team Scavenge's Bosses initials.

The duo stopped in front of the door, before Simon finally knocked on it. Several seconds of silence followed afterwards, before they were finally given a response.

"You may enter." A deep, and very serious voice replied back. Both men knew exactly who the voice belonged to. They stood in place for several seconds, before Nelson finally opened the large doors so he and Simon could enter.

The walked in the dimly lit room, that was only lit by the glow of a few computer monitors. They slowly walked towards the desk on the opposite side of the room, where their boss sat with the back of his chair facing them.

"Did you two succeed this time, or did you fail me again?" The man asked, growing more harsh with his words at the latter part.

"We caught the Gardevoir, sir." Nelson said, before nudging Simon and motioning for the Poké ball that currently held Gardevoir captive inside. Simon de-attached the Poké ball from his belt, and gently sat it down on the desk in front of them.

The ball sat on the desk for several seconds, before the boss slowly started turning his chair around to face the two men. They both grew slightly nervous, but tried to maintain their confident postures. Once the man was fully facing the two men, he stared at them in silence for several seconds, before finally looking down at the Poké ball that rested on his desk.

"This is the Gardevoir?" The man asked. Simon nodded.

"Yes, sir." he replied. The intimidating man that had asked the question was making his confident posture slightly faultier.

"Show me." The boss said, looking back up at the two men. Simon and Nelson stared at him for several seconds, before looking down at the ball. "*Chuckle* I don't know what the hell the two of you are waiting for, but open the damn ball and prove to me that you to aren't the failures that I think you are!" He yelled, as he slammed his hands down the desk. Both Simon and Nelson slightly jumped, startled by his sudden raise in voice.

"Go get the Ursaring'." Nelson ordered, not looking at Simon as he did.

"No, hold on-" Simon started protesting, before quickly being cut off.

"-Go get the damn Ursaring'!" Nelson yelled, finally looking over at him. The look on his face was proof enough that he wasn't screwing around at that moment. Simon finally huffed, before heading back to the office door so he could recover the three large bear Pokémon that they had recruited on their hunt for Gardevoir.

Gavin, the boss, locked his eyes onto Nelson. Nelson looked up at him, growing very uneasy with the hard expression he was being given.

"The Ursaring' are just in case she gets frisky." Nelson said, figuring his boss was wondering why he sent Simon to recover the Pokémon. He didn't get a response, as Gavin's hard, intimidating expression remained staring holes through him.

Simon finally returned to the room with the three Ursaring' in tow. Nelson looked over at him, an impatient look had grown on his face as he did. Simon stared at him in silence not saying a thing in response.

Nelson finally turned back to face his boss, who's expression remained the same. He grabbed the Poké ball off of the desk, before taking a few steps back.

"Be ready to grab her if she tries something." Nelson said in a serious tone, as he looked around at the Ursaring'. They nodded in response. "Alright, sir, here she is." He continued, as he looked back towards the man sitting behind the desk. He was clearly growing impatient with the two men.

Without saying another word, Nelson pressed the center of the ball, and tossed it towards the middle of room. A bright red flash was seen, as Gardevoir emerged from the ball. She immediately charged a Shadow Ball and sent it flying towards one of the Ursaring. It slid across the floor, before crashing hard into one of the walls.

"Gar-de-Voir!" Gardevoir yelled, as she went to charge another Shadow Ball. Before she could, one of the Ursaring quickly ran up behind her and locked her in a tight bear hug. "V-Voir!" She yelled, as her eyes started glowing a bright blue color. Before she could finish what she was about to do, the third Ursaring ran up and smacked her in the head with his paw. He nicked her with his claw, leaving a noticeable scratch mark on her left cheek. Gardevoir looked around, dazed by the sudden blow. He went to swing at her again, but was stopped.

"Enough." Gavin spoke up, getting the large bear's attention. He stood up and slowly walked around the desk with something clutched in his hand. Nelson stepped out of the way as he made his way around the desk.

Gavin walked over and stopped in front of her. He stared at the dazed Pokémon as she looked up at him. Her vision was blurry, but she could barley make out his form in front of her. A small snicker escaped his still closed lips as he continued to stare at her. Several seconds of silence passed, before he finally raised what he had in his hands and clasped it around her neck. Simon and Nelson watched in silence as he did.

Gavin took a few steps back, not taking his eyes off of Gardevoir.

"Release her." Gavin ordered the Ursaring. He held onto her for several more seconds, before finally releasing his tight grasp. Gardevoir fell down onto her hands and knees, looking up at Gavin as she did. She glared at him before pushing herself back up.

"Gar-de-vooooirrrr!" Gardevoir yelled, as she once again went to use Shadow Ball. But as she was getting ready to charge it, a strong electric shock was sent coursing through her body. She let out a loud cry, before dropping back down to the floor. Nelson and Simon watched in surprise. But Gavin-Gavin's hard expression finally curled into a smirk, as he stared down at the weakened Pokémon.

Gardevoir once again tried pushing herself back up. But as she weakly tried, Gavin very slowly shook his head.

"I wouldn't try it again, sweetheart. Unless... you want another one of those shocks." He said. Gardevoir's weak glare remained on her face, as she stared at the man. "That collar you're wearing was designed by Team Scavenge's scientists', Luciana and Carter. Very bright, young workers of mine. It's only a prototype, but I wanted you to be my test subject. That collar can read your energy level, and can sense when you're about to use one of those moves of yours. And to prevent any sort of... accident from happening, it gives you a nice, powerful electric shock." He explained. This was the first Simon and Nelson had heard of the shock collar. So generally, they were both surprised by it.

Gavin stepped back towards Gardevoir, and crouched down in front of her. Gardevoir's glare never left her face. She tried backing up away from him, but quickly realized she was still at the feet of one of the Ursaring.

Gavin's smirk remained, as he continued to eye Gardevoir.

"Now, regardless of whether you want to believe it or not, it's a pleasure to finally have you here. I've been waiting to meet you for a very long time." Gavin said. Gardevoir stayed silent as he spoke. His tone of voice sent chills down her spine. "You may not like it here at first, but trust me, you'll get use to it. Eventually." He continued. He stared at her for several more seconds, before finally pushing himself back up to his feet.

One he was up, he turned to face Nelson and Simon. They stood in silence as he approached them.

"I really thought that you two were going to let me down again. But, you surprised me. You really did. Even though the simple task you were given would have been very hard to mess up to begin with." Gavin started, as he stared the two men down. They both remained in their nervous states as he did. Gavin's intimidating presence would have been hard for anyone to not be nervous around, especially when he is staring you down. "Since the two of you managed to get the job done, I'll keep my end of our deal. Janitorial duty for the two of you is done, and I will keep you in mind when I need reliable workers to complete a task for me." He continued. Simon and Nelson couldn't help but slightly smile as he said this. They were finally getting recognition from their boss that they were reliable members of Team Scavenge.

"Thank you, sir. You won't regret your decision." Simon said. Gavin let out a light huff, as his usual hard expression returned to his face.

"You better hope I don't." He said, causing the little confidence Simon and Nelson had built up after his announcement to vanish as if it were never even there. "Now, take her to the lab. Carter has been ordered to do a little blood work on her. I want to see just how much Pokémon she actually has in her." He continued, as he looked back towards Gardevoir.

"Yes, sir." Simon and Nelson said in unison. Nelson motioned for the Ursaring that was standing behind Gardevoir to get her up, so that's what he did. The Ursaring roughly grabbed Gardevoir and pulled her back up. She tried to fight away from him, but with how weak she was, and how strong the Ursaring was, it didn't happen.

"I don't want any more harm done to her. Carter has his orders, and you two have yours. If she gets out of hand, the collar will put her in her place." Gavin said, looking back over to Simon and Nelson. The two men nodded in response to their boss. "Good. Deliver her to Carter and let him know that I will be down there shortly." He continued. The two men nodded once again, before they headed towards the door. The three Ursaring followed, one of which was carrying Gardevoir with his tight hold.

Gavin watched as the two men and the three Ursaring left with Gardevoir. A small, sinister grin formed on his face as they exited his office. He had finally gotten what he had been after for so long. And he couldn't be happier about it.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan's group had now been walking for hours, as they headed towards The Scavenger's "hideout." Brennan had shown no signs of slowing down. He told himself he wasn't going to until Gardevoir was back with him.

The others on the other hand had grown very tired from their long walk so far. They had all started falling behind. All except Luna. She was tired, but she wanted to find Gardevoir just like Brennan did.

"Brennan, maybe we should stop and rest for a few minutes." Luna said, as she slightly quickened her pace to catch up to him. Brennan shook his head.

"No." He replied plainly, and without hesitation. Luna looked back towards the tiring group behind them, before speaking again.

"Brennan, look at them. They need a break. We've been walking for six and a half hours now." Luna said. Brennan still refused to stop.

"I'm not stopping. Not until I get Gardevoir back." He said. Luna knew he was dead set and rescuing Gardevoir, and nothing was going to stop him from doing so. But she also knew they still had a long walk ahead of them, and they weren't going to make it the whole way without any breaks. There's no way they could do that.

"Brennan-" Luna started, before quickly being cut off.

"-Luna, I've already told you I'm not stopping." Brennan interrupted. He finally looked over at her as he did. She could see nothing but worry and determination in his eyes. Luna stared at him for several seconds, trying to think of how to word what she was going to say next.

"Please, just... listen to me." Luna said, as she stepped in front of Brennan and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to stop. "We all want to find Gardevoir and get her back. We do. But we still have a long walk before we get to The Scavenger's hideout. We've already been walking for six hours straight, and if we don't stop and rest, there is no way we're going to make it there. And if we don't make it there, we won't be able to help Gardevoir. And none of us want that." She continued. Brennan stared at her for several seconds, before looking back to the others. They were all either sitting down resting, or standing with their hands resting on their knees as they tried to catch their breath. He looked back at Luna before replying.

"Okay, fine." Brennan started. Luna smiled as he did. "You guys can stay behind and rest, but I'm going to keep going." He continued. Luna's smiled quickly turned into a frown as he did.

"Brennan!-" She started, before quickly being cut off.

"Luna! I'm not stopping! I'm going to get Gardevoir back! She's-she's probably scared and-and who knows what those people could be doing to her! She needs help! We can't stop! We just... can't. I won't." Brennan said. His frustration that he started speaking with, quickly turned to sadness towards the end. Luna stared at him for several seconds in silence, before finally sighing.

"How about this. We go until sundown, then we stop and rest for a few hours, and start fresh again at sunrise. It'll be impossible to know where we're going in the dark anyways." Luna suggested. Brennan stared at her silence, before looking away. He knew there was still a few hours of daylight left, and they could make it a good distance closer to the hideout than they currently were now if they walked until sundown. But Brennan, he didn't want to stop. He wanted to keep going. He wanted to risk walking in the dark. He was willing to do whatever it took to get to Gardevoir.

Brennan looked back towards the tired group behind him, before turning his attention back to Luna. They were willing to come all this way with him to help him get Gardevoir back, but he wasn't willing to stop and let them rest after hours of walking. It made him feel worse than he already did.

"Fine... we go until sundown, and them we find camp for the night and rest." Brennan finally said. A small relived smile formed on Luna's face, as she nodded.

"Is that okay with you guys?" She asked, as she looked over towards the others.

"H-how much longer until sundown?" Lane asked tiredly, as he looked up at his girlfriend.

"About three hours." Luna replied. The whole group groaned in response.

"Look, if we're going to stop in a couple of hours I want to get in as much progress before sundown as we can. So lets get moving." Brennan said. Luna nodded, before stepping out of his way. Without anymore hesitation, Brennan continued on his way. Luna looked back towards the others and motioned them to follow, before she did the same. The group let out another combined groan, before following behind.

•••

•••

•••

After another three hours of nonstop walking, the sun finally started setting, to the relief of everyone in the group besides Brennan. They walked for several minutes, before Luna finally spoke up.

"The sun's going to be down in a few minutes, we should probably start looking for a place to camp out for tonight." She spoke to Brennan. The others let out relived sighs as she spoke. Brennan continued walking for several seconds, before sighing.

"Yeah. Yeah, alright." He replied very reluctantly. He didn't want to stop. But he had made a deal with the others and knew he had to honor it. Luna placed a hand on his shoulder, before nodding. She started looking around, before spotting a small clearing just off of the route they had been following.

"Okay. Come on. Maybe there's a nice place through there." She said, pointing to the small clearing. Brennan looked at it and sighed again. The thought of Gardevoir standing there like the first time he first saw her ran through his mind. It made him want to break his word to the others and keep walking. "Brennan, are you coming?" Luna asked, breaking him from his thoughts. Brennan had zoned out, without him even knowing. The others had already entered through the clearing, and were now waiting for him and Luna. He finally nodded, before following her through.

They walked through the forest for around a minute and a half, before finally stumbling upon a small space, just big enough for them to set up camp.

"This should do." Luna said.

"Finally!" Lane said, as he dropped his bag and sat down. He let a loud moan, once he finally hit the grass. He took his shoes off and started rubbing his sore feet.

Frankie followed suit, although he left his shoes on. The closer and closer they got to Team Scavenger's hideout, the more and more nervous he grew. He seemed to have something on his mind, and he hadn't been able to get rid of the sick feeling in his stomach.

Brennan and Luna sat their bags down, before sitting down like the others had. Brennan watched as Mightyena dropped down into the grass and dozed off within seconds. Sleeping wasn't going to be that easy for him, and he knew it.

As the sun went down, Luna pulled out the lantern she had brought with her. She sat it up in the middle of the group and lit it up. It was a pretty bright lantern. It gave them as much light as a fire would have. The group sat around, some of which sat against the body of a fallen tree that Machamp had found nearby.

As small chatter filled the otherwise quiet circle, Brennan sat in silence, staring off into the darkness of the forest. The only thing that had remained on his mind all day was Gardevoir. He was worried about her-scared even. He didn't even know if she was okay, or what Team Scavenge was even doing to her. Those kind of thoughts made him want to jump up and run as fast as he could the rest of the way to their hideout. He closed his eyes tight and took a deep breath to try and ease his mind a little. But he knew damn well that that wasn't going to happen until Gardevoir was back with him.

Luna, who had been in a somewhat random conversation with Lane, looked over at Brennan and saw him sitting with his worried expression remaining on his face. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, getting him to open his eyes and look at her.

"Hey, Gardevoir is fine. I know she is. She's strong, and can take care of herself." Luna said, trying to ease some of Brennan's worry. "Try and get some sleep. We'll start again first thing in the morning." She continued. Brennan huffed.

"Sleep. Yeah, right." He said, before turning his attention back to the darkness of the forest. Luna stared at him with a very sympathetic look. She knew he was worried, and he had every right to be. And she also knew that there was nothing she was going to be able to say to get him to calm down just a little bit so he could relax for a few hours.

She let out a little sigh of her own, before finally looking away from Brennan. She looked around at the group of scattered Pokémon... and trainers'. Almost all of them had dozed off already. They had brought a couple of sleeping bags, but not enough to fit everyone.

She stood up and grabbed her bag, de-attracting the sleeping bag from it. She walked over to Brennan and stuck it out in front of him. He looked at it, before looking up at her.

"You didn't bring one. Maybe if you lie down, you'll be able to get comfortable." Luna said. Brennan shook his head.

"No thanks. Give it to one of the others." He replied. Now it was Luna's turn to shake her head.

"No, Brennan. You need to try and get some sleep. The others are already asleep, so there's no point in waking them up." She said. Brennan still didn't reach for it. Luna sighed, before deciding she was just going to spread it out for him in case he changed his mind. Brennan watched her as she did. Once it was set up, she looked back at him. "It's there. You need to get a couple of hours of sleep." She said. Brennan sat in silence as he turned his attention back to the sleeping bag. He just sat there staring at it.

Luna decided to leave him be for now, as she went around and sat up the other two sleeping bags they had brought. One for Frankie, and one for her and Lane to squeeze into. Once they were ready, and she had managed to wake the two boys up just enough so they could get in them and go back to sleep. She walked over to the lantern to turn it out. She saw Brennan still sitting in the same spot he had been sitting in since they stopped. She really did feel bad for him. She sighed, before dimming the light. She didn't want Brennan to be left sitting in the complete blackness by himself.

Brennan continued to sit staring ahead. He wasn't paying attention to anything around him. So he didn't even notice when Luna dimmed the lantern and crawled into her sleeping bag with Lane. He now sat awake, alone with nothing but his thoughts.

He sat, and sat, and sat, not even paying attention to how much time had passed. He finally got tired of staring into the darkness, so he started looking around at all of his sleeping friends. Mightyena was nearby curled up in a ball like he usually slept. He was always one to stick by Brennan when something was wrong. Brennan reached over and gently stroked his head a couple of times. Mightyena slightly stirred, but didn't wake up.

Roserade and Sandslash were sharing a small blanket that Luna had brought in her backpack. It wasn't a sleeping bag, but the two of them did look comfortable in it. Machamp sat propped up against the tree body he had found earlier. He had all four of his arms crossed as he slept sitting up. And finally Blaziken sat propped up against a tree with his arm draped around Delphox as she snuggled into his fur. Those two definitely cared about each other, and Brennan knew that they would do anything they had to to protect each other. That's when his mind traveled back to Gardevoir.

He cared about her. He really did. And he would do anything he had to to get her back. And he knew that if he was in Gardevoir's place... she would do anything she had to to help him. He shook his head and quickly climbed to his feet. He couldn't just sit there anymore. He was wasting time. He needed to get to Gardevoir and help her. Not leave her trapped so he could get some sleep.

He opened his backpack and pulled out an old notebook he kept with him when he was traveling. He opened it up and grabbed the cheap pen that rested, pinned between the pages. He quickly jotted something down, before ripping the page out. He folded it up and walked over to Luna's backpack. He slid the paper into one of the pouches on the outside, making sure it stuck out enough for her to see it.

After that was set, he looked around at his sleeping friends. He walked over to the sleeping bag that Luna had laid out for him. He grabbed it, unzipped it, and walked over to Machamp. He draped it over him, deciding since he didn't have fur, he probably needed it the most.

After that, he grabbed Luna's lantern, before heading back through the forest towards the route, leaving his friends to sleep. He wasn't wasting anymore time. He was going to get Gardevoir back.


	19. Chapter 19

Brennan ran down the route that he and the others had been following. The only light he currently had was the lantern he had brought with him. He was alone, in the middle of the night, heading towards the most dangerous place he had ever been before. But he wasn't going to stop. He couldn't.

He ran, not knowing how far, or how long he actually had. He had only had one thing on his mind the whole time, Gardevoir. Sitting in camp wasn't an option for him anymore. He couldn't waste anymore time. He needed to go. He needed to get her back.

Brennan ran, kicking up dirt and gravel as he did, as the lantern wildly swung back and forth in his hand. The only noise being heard were his heavy, repeated footsteps running down the dirt trail, his loose items being thrown around inside of his backpack with every step he took, and the squeakiness of the swinging lantern.

Brennan kept going for what seemed like hours, ignoring the sounds of nearby wild Pokémon' as he did. He got to a point where he was growing so tired, he couldn't even feel his legs anymore. Sweat had dripped down his forehead, soaking the inside of his hat. His shirt was also drenched at this point.

Eventually, after hours of nonstop running, the lantern finally started dimming. Occasionally blinking in and out. He knew it was going out, and he didn't have much longer until he was left running in the darkness of the night. He had left his phone at home, and didn't have a watch, so he couldn't even check to see what time it was to get a clue of how much longer it was until the sun rose.

As the lantern dimmed even more, and the darkness started to consume him, he felt himself feeling sick. His legs continued to grow more and more weak. His determination to get to Gardevoir was the only thing keeping him going at this point.

Even as the lantern finally went out, and the darkness of the night surrounded him, he still refused to stop. His heart was pounding heavily inside of his chest, his shirt was soaked in sweat, his shoes filled with small pebbles and dirt he had kicked up. But still, nothing was stopping him.

He continued running through the darkness, until he heard low growls closing in on him. He looked around, not seeing anything... at first. Then glowing eyes started appearing in the darkness. Brennan finally came to a stop, as he looked around. The eyes came closer and closer to him. They had him surrounded.

He knew he wasn't going to be able to outrun them. So whatever they were going to do, they were going to do.

"Come on..." Brennan said tiredly, as he raised his fists, ready to try and fight off his stalkers. There were more low growls as they continued to close in on him. He was ready to attack, when he started feeling dizzy. He held his head, as his knees started wobbling. His breathing picked up heavier than it already was, as he started falling to the ground.

He dropped to his knees, trying to keep himself up, but eventually fell on his face. He couldn't see. Even the blackness was blurry in his vision. He weakly looked up, as he started slipping under. He heard a loud growl, before finally passing out.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir tiredly sat propped up, and strapped down to a cold, metal chair in a dimly lit laboratory. Her head lazily flopped to the side, as she tried to look around the room.

The scientists, Carter and Luciana, had been running tests on her for what seemed like hours. They had taken blood from her multiple times already. Finger printed her and swabbed saliva out of her mouth, and cut off a small chunk of her hair. She honestly didn't know what else they could do.

She was feeling sick. The world was spinning. If it wasn't for the straps keeping her held down to the chair, she would have slid to the floor like jello.

Gardevoir finally managed to look in the direction of where Carter and Luciana were. They were standing by some sort of machine. She had no clue what it was, or what it did. She watched as they discussed something. As they did, Gavin approached them. Gardevoir's tired glare returned to her face when he walked into her line of sight.

They talked for several minutes, before Gavin finally looked her way. A small smile formed on his face as he approached her.

"Ahh, Gardevoir. How are you holding up, my dear?" He asked, stopping in front of her. Gardevoir kept her glare on her face as she stared at him. "I see you may not be too enthused about these tests. But I assure you that they are almost done. There are just a few more things I need to find out about you." He explained. His tone still sounded hard, and threatening.

Gardevoir sat in silence, as her weak glare hardened. This man-Gavin, he was a bad man. That was obvious to her. As he stared into her eyes, his evil, chocolate brown eyes felt like they were reading her sole. He stayed silent for several more seconds, before beginning again.

"The trainer you were with when my men found you, he isn't coming to save you. I know that's what you're hoping for. I can feel it. But as I said before, you'll get used to it here. And you'll forget all about him." Gavin said, his low tone sounding more harsh than before. This infuriated Gardevoir. She jerked her hands up, trying to free them from her restraints... but she couldn't. Her angry expression on her face was being directed right towards Gavin. She couldn't break free, and she couldn't use any of her moves, so she did the next best thing. She spit in his face. His smirk instantly faded, being replaced with one of anger. He closed his eyes trying to calm his anger, as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his face.

"No, no. See, now that isn't going to work. Not at all." Gavin said, returning his hard gaze to the Pokémon. He stared at her for several more seconds, before pulling a small remote out of his jacket pocket. "I'm sorry you made me do this." He apologized halfheartedly, before pressing the single red button that inhabited the small remote. Gardevoir felt another powerful shock from the collar run through her body. She let out another loud cry in pain as it did.

Gavin stood with a grin on his face, watching as Gardevoir weakly fell back against the chair, panting as she did. Luciana and Carter stood in silence in the background, watching their boss.

"Now, Luciana and Carter over there are going to finish doing their tests, and YOU'RE not going to give them any problems. Because if you do *Chuckles* you'll regret it." Gavin said, holding the remote up as he did. Gardevoir's weak glare returned to her face, as she stared at the man. He leaned in towards the weakened Pokémon and gently ran the back of his right hand across her cheek. She pulled away from him as he did, causing a fake-sad frown to form on his face. "I'm not here to hurt you, Gardevoir. You need to trust me about that. Once you start playing along, you'll realize that this isn't a bad place to be, and that I'm not that bad of a guy. In the end, you'll eventually realize that I'm doing all of this for... _you_." His voice got more low in tone as he leaned in closer to her. Their faces were mere inches apart at that point. The way he said it made Gardevoir feel very uneasy. More uneasy than she already was by how close he was to her. What did he mean he was doing all of it for her?

Several seconds of Gavin holding his stare on Gardevoir passed, before he finally backed away from her. Gardevoir felt like she could finally breath again. Gavin turned his attention back to his two scientists, who had pretty much remained stagnant, as they stood off to the side watching their boss.

"Luciana, Carter, you know what to do. You are to report to me once you've finished your testing." Gavin said in a very strict tone. Both scientists nodded in response.

"Yes, Sir." They replied. Gavin stared at the two for several seconds, before saying anything else.

"Good. I have a few things to check on elsewhere, so I'm going to be taking my leave now." He said. He threw one last glance at Gardevoir, who's tired glare had returned to her face. He smile made its way onto his face, one that once again sent chills down Gardevoir's spin. He kept the smile on her for several seconds, before finally turning and making his exit.

Luciana and Carter waited until he had exited the room, before they finally looked back over at Gardevoir.

"Lets get this finished." Luciana, a tan skinned, Hispanic decent female with her long black hair tied in a pony tail said. "What do we have left to do?" She asked, looking over at her partner. Carter, the averaged height blonde, and very pale skinned man pushed his round-framed black glasses back up on his nose, before looking through the papers attached to the clipboard in his hands to clarify what tests still needed to be done, before replying.

"With the results we've gotten so far, we still need to perform a CT scan on her to see just how big of a brain she's working with. And I want to test out that EEG headset we've been working on to see if I can read any of her brain activity." Carter replied, before finally looking back up at his partner. Luciana looked at him, before glancing back over to Gardevoir.

"Lets do the CT Scan first. The EEG headset is still a work-in-progress, so there's no guarantee its even going to work how we want it to." She said. Carter nodded.

"I'll go get it set up. You bring her over." He directed, before walking off to do what he said he was going to. Luciana walked over to Gardevoir, who hadn't taken her eyes off of them since Gavin left. She stood in front of the weakened Pokémon, staring down at her for several seconds. She was honestly curious why this Gardevoir was so special to Gavin. She wasn't one to question her boss, and she didn't plan on starting now. It was just a question she had been asking herself all day now.

She finally unlocked Gardevoir's wrists from the chair, before pulling her out of it. Gardevoir almost fell to the floor as she did.

"We're trying to finish these tests. You heard the boss, don't trying anything dumb." Luciana said strictly, as she dragged Gardevoir towards the machine that Carter was setting up.

Gardevoir stared at the large machine as she was dragged over to it. She didn't know what it was, or what it did. What she did know, however is that she was kinda intimidated of it.

"Alright, it's ready." Carter said, as he messed around with something on the side of the machine.

"Lay down right there." Luciana said, as she pointed towards the long bed-like that was part of the machine. Gardevoir stood there staring at it for several seconds, before Luciana finally groaned. She pushed Gardevoir forward, before jerking her around to face her, and forcing her into a sitting position on the bed. Gardevoir didn't seem too thrilled with that. "Lay down." She ordered, this time more strict than before.

Gardevoir held a glare on the women for several seconds, before finally listening to her. She slowly, and nervously laid down on the somewhat hard bed, still feeling pretty intimidated by the machine. She heard Luciana and Carter saying things to each other, but stopped paying attention to them.

She was honestly scared at this point. Brennan was coming for her, right? He had to have been. She could feel it. She wanted to badly be in his arms again. To feel him holding on to her, protecting her, making sure nothing was going to happen to her. That's what she wanted. But for now, the only thing she could do was obey these... people, and keep hoping that Brennan would show up and save her.

She lay there, unmoving. She closed her eyes and pictured Brennan in her mind. Just imagining him made her feel less scared. Keeping him in her mind was what she was going to have to do to get her through this.

•••

•••

•••

Luna slowly blinked her eyes open. The sun was just coming up, so the morning sunrise she woke up to was beautiful. She looked over and saw that Lane was still sound asleep next to her. She yawned, before unzipping the sleeping back and sitting up. She looked around the small campsite they had made, noticing that everyone else was also still asleep.

She was one of the last ones to fall asleep, and the first one to wake up. That's when she realized she wasn't the last to fall asleep. She looked over to where Brennan was sat when she went to sleep, he wasn't there. She was slightly confused. She looked over to where the sleeping bag was and saw it was gone too. Her eyes wandered the small campsite for a second time, that's when she realized that the sleeping bag she had laid out for Brennan was being used as a cover for Machamp.

She stood up and started looking around. She wandered a little ways out of the campsite, calling for Brennan as she did. She was hoping he just walked off to use the bathroom or something.

"Brennan, are you out here?" She called, but to no response. She walked around for another two minutes before heading back to camp. Once she made it back, only then did she realize that her lantern was gone. Once she saw that, she quickly looked over to where Brennan's bag was sat next to hers. Hers was still there, but his wasn't.

"Oh, no." She said to herself. She quickly walked back over to Lane and shook him. "Lane. Hey, Lane. Wake up." She said.

"Huh? Wha-what?" Lane muttered, still half asleep as he did.

"Lane, get up. We have a problem." Luna said, continuing to shake her sleeping boyfriend.

"What is it?" Lane asked, finally waking up enough to understand her.

"Get up. We have to go. Brennan's gone." Luna said, this made Lane sit up.

"What?" He said curiously, trying to rub the tiredness out of his eyes.

"Brennan's gone. Help me wake the others up. We have to get moving." Luna replied, as she stood up and walked over to Frankie. Lane scratched the back of his head, still somewhat confused. He pushed the top of the sleeping bag off of himself, before climbing to his feet.

Luna walked over to Frankie and roughly started shaking him awake. He quickly sat up and looked around the area in a tired surprise, before finally locking eyes with Luna.

"W-what's the matter with you, Luna?" He asked, slightly irritated by the females actions.

"Get up and get you're things together. We have to get moving." Luna replied, as she stood up and went to move on with waking the others up. Frankie was just as confused as Lane had been.

"What's the big rush. Seriously?" Frankie asked, as he climbed to his feet, stretching and yawning once he got to them.

Luna walked over to Blaziken and Delphox and woke them up in a similar manner to how she had woken Frankie up. Once they were up, she turned back to Frankie.

"Brennan's gone. He left without us to go to Team Scavenger's hideout. We have to catch up to him." She replied. Not only did this surprise Frankie, but it also surprised Brennan's still half-asleep Pokémon. Especially Blaziken.

"Blaziken?" Blaziken asked, as he quickly stood up. Luna turned to him.

"He left sometime during the night. There is no way of knowing when. That's why we need to get moving." She replied. Blaziken stood there staring at her, trying to process the news he had just found out. He couldn't believe that Brennan was so hellbent on getting Gardevoir back that he left camp in the middle of the night, alone to go get her.

Luna headed towards her backpack to grab it when she heard soft whimpers escaping Mightyena. She looked at him, and could easily tell how affected he was by the news of his missing trainer.

"Don't worry, we'll catch up to him." She said in a sympathetic tone, she gave him a few rubs on his head to calm him down.

Machamp had gotten up confused as to why he had been covered up.

"Champ?" Machamp said curiously, as he held up the sleeping bag. Luna walked over to him and grabbed it.

"This is the sleeping bag a laid out for Brennan last night. He covered you up with it before he left." Luna said, knowing that that was exactly what happened. Machamp knew already that that was something his trainer would do.

Luna rolled the sleeping bag back up and walked over to her backpack. She was strapping it back onto the bag, when she noticed a note sticking out of the front pocket. She stared at it for several seconds, before grabbing it and opening it.

"Guys," Luna said as she stood up and faced the group, getting everyone's attention as she did. "Brennan left a note." She said, showing the note to the group.

"What does it say?" Lane asked.

"Guys, I couldn't waste anymore time. I had to go. I didn't want to wake any of you either because I knew you all needed the rest. I'm going to get Gardevoir back. We'll meet back up with you after. Don't follow me, I can't risk any of you getting hurt because of me. And don't worry, I'll be fine. See you soon." Luna read Brennan's note, before looking back up at her boyfriend.

"Blaziken." Blaziken said as he shook his head. Not doing what Brennan told him to do was something he had grown used to recently. So he didn't mind not listening to his trainer about something else. He stormed past Luna headed back towards the trail.

"Blaziken, hey, wait!" Luna said, but Blaziken ignored her. She quickly ran and grabbed her backpack, before following behind. The others did the same.

Blaziken reemerged back out onto the route, and continued walking in the direction they had been headed in the previous day. He didn't make it far before the others burst out of the forest behind him.

"Blaziken," Luna said, as she caught up to the Pokémon, placing a hand on his shoulder when she did. "I know you want to get to Brennan, but we have to stay together now. We can't risk getting anymore separated than we already are." She explained. Blaziken just continued to stare ahead, not even glancing her way.

"Blaziken." He replied, before he continued moving again. Luna looked back at the others, before motioning them to follow with her head. They had a long way ahead of them if they wanted to catch up to Brennan. So she knew they didn't have any time to waste.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan slowly struggled to open his eyes. When he finally managed to, he was unsure of where he was. He pushed himself up wards, using his elbows to prop himself up. He looked around and realized he was inside of a tent.

"W-where am I?" Brennan asked weakly, as he continued to look around.

"Psy?" A Psyduck said curiously, as it popped up out of nowhere.

"Gah!" Brennan exclaimed, startled by the Pokémon's sudden appearance.

"Psyduck, I told you not to bother him." A freckle-faced redheaded girl said in a heavy southern accent, as she made her way into the tent.

"Psy." Psyduck said, before backing away from Brennan. Brennan watched him, before looking up at the girl.

"Mornin'! Glad you're finally awake!" The girl exclaimed. Brennan was still pretty confused. "Made y'all some soup for when you woke up." She continued, pointing towards to small bowl that rested a few feet away from Brennan. Brennan looked over at it, before looking back at her.

"I... appreciate it, but I don't even know what's going on right now. Where am I?" He asked.

"You're at my camp. My Pokemon n' I stumbled across ya last night on the trail. We scared off the pack of Mightyena that tried attackin' you." The girl replied. "We didn't want to leave ya unconscious on the route, so we brought you back here to sleep it off. You were dehydrated. I figure you've been travlin' a lot." She continued. After she said that, Brennan tried to remember back to what had happened. He was running, then the next thing he knew it was dark, and he heard growling, and that was it. That's when he remembered why he had been running...

"G-Gardevoir. Gardevoir!" Brennan exclaimed, when the realization hit him. He had wasted who knows how much time sleeping. "I-I have to go. I have to go." He continued, as he tried to push himself up.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down. What's the matter with this Gardevoir you're talkin' about?" The girl asked.

"My G-Gardevoir was kidnapped and I'm going to get her back. I didn't need to stop. I'm wasting time!" Brennan replied, starting to grow frustrated. Not with the girl, but with himself.

"Kidnapped. Oh, no. Who kidnapped her?" The girl asked.

"T-this group of people. Team Sca-" Brennan started, before being interrupted.

"-Venge. I've heard of them. They're'a bad group." The girl said. Brennan had heard that from a few different people already. He grew more and more worried every time he did. "People don't like gettin' involved with them. I hear 'em say all the time that they're like the infamous, Team Rocket but much worse. They like capturing n' experimenting on Pokémon, like its some kinda game or somethin'. Makes me sick." She continued. Brennan's heart felt like it shattered into a million, tiny, little shards, at the thought of what they could possibly putting Gardevoir through. He shook his head, before finally getting up.

"I-I have to go." He said, as he grabbed his bag and tried to leave the tent.

"Hang on there, aren't ya goin' to at least eat first?" The girl asked. Brennan shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the time. I've wasted enough time sleeping." He replied, as he made his way past her, and out of the tent.

"Hey! Wait'a second! Are you out here alone?" The girl asked. Brennan nodded.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Doncha have any other Pokémon besides Gardevoir?" She asked. Brennan stopped, before glancing back, and sighing.

"I do. But they aren't with me." He replied.

"Well why not?" The girl asked. Brennan stayed silent for several seconds, before saying anything.

"Thanks for the help. I have to go." He finally replied, as he continued walking again.

"Hey! Wait!" The girl exclaimed. Brennan stopped, and sighed again. He was starting to grow more annoyed, even though he was trying not to. "Let us come with ya." She said. This caused Brennan to turn around and face her again. He shook his head.

"No-No. This is my problem." He replied.

"Come on! We want to help!" The girl exclaimed, as she pointed down towards her Psyduck.

"Psyyy." Psyduck said. She turned around looking for something else, but didn't see it.

"Hey! Come on out! He's'a friend!" She exclaimed. Several seconds passed, before a Gloom and a Swampert walked out from behind some trees. The girl still didn't look too satisfied. "Hey! You come out, too!" She said.

Brennan stood in silence for several seconds, watching her. A few more seconds passed before a Gothitelle appeared. She had a noticeable scar across her face. Her and Brennan stared at each other for several seconds.

"So... will ya let us come with you? You can't go n' get your Pokémon back alone." She said. Brennan looked off to side, before turning back to the girl. He was getting ready to reply, when he glanced back over at Gothitelle.

"*Sigh* Fine. Please, just... hurry." Brennan replied. The girl smiled and nodded.

"Okay!" She exclaimed. "Come on team! Lets pack up camp and get moving! We're goin' to help... uh-" she continued, before stopping as she glanced back at Brennan in embarrassment when she realized she didn't know his name.

"Brennan." He said, knowing that's what she wanted to know. Her smile returned.

"We're goin' to help Brennan get his Pokémon back!" She exclaimed.

After, Brennan stood there watching this girl and her Pokémon tear their camp down and pack it up. It took longer than he would have liked, but eventually, they got on the move.

Someone else to worry about was the last thing Brennan wanted. But she had helped him out. And after his close call with that pack of Mightyena' the previous night, a little help from some ally Pokémon may be a good thing.

Regardless, the only thing he cared about was getting to Gardevoir. And if he had to bring this girl with him, then so be it. He made the decision to leave his group behind and keeping moving forward, that was on him. But after this, he really was done wasting time. He wasn't stopping anymore. Not until he had Gardevoir back.


	20. Chapter 20

The hot, afternoon sun was beating down on the tired group. They had been moving for hours in hopes of catching up to Brennan. But they still hadn't seen any signs of him yet.

Blaziken had remained quiet since they left their small campsite. Not even Delphox could break his silence. Luna had tried several times throughout the past few hours to read his facial expression, but she found it quite hard to do.

"How far ahead do you think he got?" Lane asked from the back of the group, as he buried his hands into his pockets, playing around with the loose change that rested inside of them. Luna finally broke away from Blaziken, once again staring ahead.

"We can't know for sure. But we'll catch up to him." She replied. She knew they were going to find him eventually, she just really hoped they managed to do it before he got to Team Scavenge's hideout and did something stupid. Without any of his Pokémon, Luna knew he wouldn't be able to accomplish much as far as getting through their guards and getting Gardevoir.

Frankie had been falling further and further behind the group. The butterflies in his stomach had been telling him this was a bad idea since they left the city. He knew where Team Scavenger's hideout was, but he didn't know why he was going along with them. Sure he considered Brennan a friend at this point, but even so, he hadn't known him that long, and Brennan knew Gardevoir for less than that. But he just... wasn't sure what he was doing.

"Frankie, pick up the pace. We don't want you to get left behind." Luna called from the front, getting his attention. Frankie looked up from staring at his shoes, before nodding.

"O-okay." He replied somewhat quietly, as he picked up his pace to catch back up with the group. The thought of turning back crossed his mind on several occasions already, but he didn't. He didn't feel like he should, even though he kinda wanted to.

Mightyena had been walking with his head down since they started moving again. He was worried about Brennan. He wanted to find him. The longer they walked without finding him, the sadder and sadder he became. Roserade and Sandslash, who had been walking relatively close to him, had already tried several times to try and reassure him that they were going to find their trainer. Every time they tried, Mightyena would glance at them and nod.

He continued walking with his nose pointed towards the ground, until he finally caught a whiff of something. It was a familiar scent. A scent that he recognized immediately. The scent of his trainer. Mightyena quickly started sniffing around the ground, as he maneuvered his way around the group.

"What's wrong, Mightyena?" Luna asked, notice the Pokémon's sudden change in attitude. Mightyena didn't look at her, before he quickly took off running down the route, leaving the others behind. "Mightyena! Wait!" Luna yelled, as she and the rest of the group ran after him.

Mightyena ran down the route as fast as he could, hoping that the scent he had picked up would lead him to Brennan. He stopped and resumed quickly sniffing the ground once the scent became stronger. As he did that, the others finally caught up to him.

"Mightyena! You can't run off like that! What if you would have gotten separated from us and lost?" Luna scolded the Pokémon. He looked up at her, his tail wagging quickly, as he let out a short whine. Lane had been staring down at the Pokémon, when he noticed something in the dirt just below his paws.

"That looks like in imprint." Lane said, pointing down towards the ground.

"What?" Luna said curiously, turning to face her boyfriend.

"There. It's an imprint. It has to be from a human. Maybe Brennan." Lane replied. Mightyena let out another whine at the mention of Brennan's name.

"Brennan... Mightyena, is that what you smell?" Luna asked, squatting down so she would be closer to him. Mightyena nodded in response, before he started sniffing the ground again.

"It's obvious Brennan was here." Lane said.

"Yeah, but how long ago?" Frankie spoke up, getting the others to look at him. "We could still be hours behind him. For all we know, he could have made it there already." He continued.

"You're right, he could have. But that's not going to stop us. We have to keep moving. And we have to find a faster way to do that." Luna said.

"Well what do you suggest? Running?" Lane asked. Luna stared at him as she thought about a response. She already knew that if they wanted to catch up to Brennan any time soon they'd need to do more than just walk. Although running was an option, she knew they wouldn't get too far in this kind of heat without having to stop and rest, and that wasn't an option for them at that moment.

"I, uh-maybe we should just head back, ya know? I don't think we're going to catch up to him at this point." Frankie finally said, getting everyone to look at him.

"Head back? Frankie, are you kidding me?" Lane said curiously, not believing what had just come out of his friend's mouth. Luna shook her head.

"No. No way. WE aren't quitting. It's not an option. And we WILL catch up to Brennan. We just have to find a way that's quicker than walking, and less tiring than running first." Luna said. At that point Frankie decided to just keep his mouth shut. He could tell he annoyed most of, if not all the group by his suggestion.

As Luna thought, Blaziken stood staring ahead with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. He was furious with Brennan for what he had done. Ditching them in the woods in the middle of the night so he could go and try to get Gardevoir back alone. But even with how furious at his trainer as he was, he was still determined to locate him. Just like the others, he didn't want anything to happen to Brennan, no matter how much at odds they currently were.

Delphox stood not too far away from Blaziken, watching him as he stared into the distance. She was worried about him. She was still wishing she could get him to talk to her, or at least give her some sort of response to anything. He hadn't so far, so she really didn't think that would change.

"Delphox?" She finally said, as she slowly approached him. He stood with his back turned to the rest of the group, still not looking her way. Blaziken had heard her, he had just chosen to remain silent. Delphox lightly grabbed onto his arm and leaned into him when she finally got close enough. However he still remained pretty stagnant.

Blaziken continued to stand there staring ahead, until he got this feeling. It was strange, and he wasn't entirely sure where it had come from. But he felt like he knew where Brennan was. The low, surprised noise that escaped his beak when the feeling hit him caused Delphox to once again look up at him.

"Delphox?" She asked worryingly. Blaziken shook his head, before looking over to the arm band he was wearing. The Mega Stone that was inside of it had a slight glow to it that it didn't have before. The glow managed to get the others' attention.

"Woah..." Lane said, as he stared at the armband.

"Your Mega Stone... what's it doing?" Luna asked. Blaziken ignored her as he stared ahead again. That was it. This Mega Stone was trying to lead him to Brennan. It was sudden, but his Pokémon instincts were telling him his trainer was in some sort of trouble. So he needed to find him.

Blaziken took off running full speed, before using his long legs to his advantage, jumping an incredible distance. He was out of sight before the others even knew was had happened.

"Blaziken!" Luna yelled, hoping that the Pokémon would hear her. But he didn't. "Blaziken! Get back here!" She yelled again, but to no avail.

"Oh, man..." Lane said, knowing full well what came next. The group took off running to try to catch up to Blaziken, even though they knew it probably wasn't going to happen.

Mightyena started running ahead again, but was called back. Luna didn't want to lose two of Brennan's Pokémon. Losing Blaziken was already bad enough.

At one point, Roserade and Sandslash started falling behind, but Machamp scooped them into his arms as he ran past, so they wouldn't. Luna looked back and saw this, she gave the Pokémon a single nod to thank him.

The group ran for several more minutes before they were finally forced to stop.

Frankie dropped to his knees in the grass, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath. The sweat had soaked through his shirt at this point.

"T-there is-*Pant*-is no way we're... going to *Pant* catch him." Frankie said, as he looked up at the rest of the group, who were all as equally tired. Luna knew he was right, they weren't going to be able to catch him on foot. There was no way. She stood with her hands resting on her knees, trying to catch her own breath. She watched as the sweat dripped off of her face, creating a small puddle at her feet, as she thought of what they could do.

As they tried to catch their breath, they heard a noise in the distance. It wasn't just any noise though, it was a familiar one. It was a car. They didn't know who would be driving a car down the route, but whoever it was, was coming right for them.

Lane stood up to try and get a good look of who may have been driving the car. He saw the small, roof-less jeep nearing them. He couldn't make out too much, but what was unmistakable was the large Team Scavenge logo on the front doors.

"It's Team Scavenge!" Lane quietly exclaimed in a panicked tone. This alerted everyone.

"Hide!" Luna quietly exclaimed, as she motioned everyone into the woods just off the side of the route. Everyone ran off the side, except Sandslash. He had something else in mind. He sat in the middle of the route staring ahead, waiting for the jeep. "Sandslash! Get over here!" She called. Sandslash looked at her, but didn't do anything other than that. "Sandslash!" She quietly called again, but it was too late. The jeep rolled to a stop a few feet in front of the Pokémon. The engine stopped and two very obviously Team Scavenge members climbed out.

One male with spiky green hair, wearing a black jacket with the Team Scavenge logo on the back, and black pants. And a short, pink haired female with her long hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing a matching black jacket, and a black skirt with black leggings underneath. The pair walked around the jeep, meeting up in front of it, as they stared at Sandslash.

"Whatta 'bout this one?" The man said in a heavy, Italian-American accent.

"It's just'a dumb ol' Sandslash. We've had plenty of these." The female said.

"We have to go back there with somethin' or tha boss is going to kill us." The man said, looking over at the female.

"Hey, if those useless Mightyena woulda tore that guy up last night like I was hoping they would, we could have raided him. I bet he had some nice Pokémon." The female said. This made Luna and Lane looked over at each other from the bushes they were hiding behind. They were both clearly worried of who that 'guy' could have been.

"I'm gettin' it. It's better than going back without nothing." The male said, as he pulled out a Poké ball. He was getting ready to throw it, when Roserade stepped out from behind the bush she had been behind. Luna tried to reach for her to stop her, but she couldn't. As the man got ready to throw the ball, Roserade pulled some sort of powder out, and blew it towards the two Team Scavenge members. They looked in her direction, caught off guard as they did.

"Aye! What did y-you...do..." The man said, before dizzily losing his balance and falling to the ground. The pink haired female looked down at her downed partner, before looking back up at Roserade.

"Oh, you l-little..." She didn't get to finish, before joining her partner on the ground. Roserade stared at the downed duo for several seconds, before rushing over to Sandslash. The others joined the two Pokémon back on the route, surprised themselves.

"Wow. Sleep Powder. Didn't know you knew that move, Roserade." Luna said. Roserade smiled and nodded.

"Rose-rade." She replied.

Lane and Frankie had walked over to the downed Team Scavenge members and started observing them.

"So... I think we found a quick way to catch up to Brennan." Lane spoke up, getting Luna to look at him.

"Wait, wait. You're suggesting we steal a car?" Luna asked.

"I mean, I'd say borrow, but if that's what you want to call it..." Lane replied.

"Lane, I don't know." Luna said. She knew it was their best option right now, but stealing wasn't really her thing. And that's what this was.

"C'mon Luna. It's a car, Team Scavenge isn't going to be using it for awhile, these are the people that kidnapped Gardevoir, we have to catch up to Brennan and Blaziken...and they left the keys in the ignition." Lane said, as he walked around to the drivers side of the car and looked inside of it, noticing the keys were left in the car. "We just need it to get us there. I'm not talking about keeping it." He said, trying to convince his girlfriend. Luna stood there thinking about. As she did, she looked over at Delphox, who seemed pretty worried at this point. She wanted Luna to agree to it. She looked away from Delphox, and down towards Mightyena, who was sadly standing at her feet. He had been staring down at the ground, but slowly looked up at her with a very, heartbreaking look on his face, as he let out a couple of short whimpers. This made Luna sigh.

"Okay, okay. I'll do it... But just this once." She finally agreed. This brought a smile to almost everyones' face.

"Sweet! Dibs on driving!" Lane exclaimed, as he opened the door and climbed in the driver's seat. Luna looked around at the group of Pokémon, before motioning them to get in.

"I think it's probably going to be a bit of a tight squeeze." She said, noticing that the jeep was only a four-seater.

"Hey! It may be. But at least it'll get us there quicker." Lane said. Frankie looked at the large group as they approached the jeep, before letting out his own sigh.

"Great." He muttered, before climbing in the back, allowing Luna to take the passenger seat.

After everyone was crammed in, they headed off. But not before tying the Team Scavenge members up to a tree so they couldn't get away. They were going to be in a for a surprise when they woke up.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir sat in the fetal position on the small bed in the room she had been taken to. She was tired and sore from all the tests Team Scavenge's scientists had done on her. She wanted to lay there and go to sleep, but she couldn't. She wouldn't have been able to even if she tried.

She sat in silence wondering when and if Brennan was going to show up. She wanted to see him again. She wanted...him. She convinced herself that he was coming for her. He had to be, right? He wouldn't just leave her and move on... he couldn't.

Then the realization that that scenario was indeed possible hit Gardevoir. What if he did decide to leave her? To forget about her. To forget about everything they've been through in the last month. What if he wasn't coming, and she was going to be stuck with these people for the rest of her life? Gardevoir shook off the thought as tears swelled up in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away, once again convincing herself that he was going to show up and save her.

She closed her eyes and let out a sad sigh. Something good happened. She was finally happy. She had someone that cared about her, a place to live, food to eat. Everything was how she always dreamed it would be. And then these people had to mess it up-try to take it all away from her. And for what? Gavin still hadn't told her why she was his target. Why did he want her? She continued to ask herself that question knowing full well that she wasn't going to be able to come up with an answer.

Gardevoir was broken from her thoughts when there was a heavy knocking on the steel door that she was trapped behind. She looked up as the door was unlocked from the outside and pulled him. An unnamed Scavenger stepped out of the way, allowing Nelson to enter the room with a scowl on his face and a tray of food in his hands.

"Here." Nelson said bitterly as he walked over to the bed. Gardevoir tried to slide further back against the wall as he approached her. When Nelson saw this, he froze, a small, mocking smirk growing on his face.

"Awe, is someone scared of me? That's adorable." He said mockingly. Gardevoir glared at him as he mocked her. She wasn't scared of him. If she wasn't wearing that shock collar around her neck she would have blasted him through the wall already. She just didn't want to be anywhere close to him. Nelson huffed, before once again moving towards the bed. Gardevoir looked away from him, deciding she would rather stare at the plain colored wall ahead of her, than stare at him any longer.

Once Nelson reached the bed he extended the tray out wanting Gardevoir to take it so he could get out of there. She didn't move. She didn't even acknowledge the fact that he was standing there with a tray of food in his hands.

"Take it." Nelson said, growing very impatient the longer he stood there. Gardevoir continued to ignore him. "Take the damn tray!" He exclaimed, growing furious with her at this point. After she ignored him again, he growled before tossing the plastic, red tray at her, spilling the food that had been resting on it all over the Pokémon. Gardevoir clenched her fists in anger as she sat there covered in water and whatever kind of Pokémon food that was on the tray. "I told you to-" Nelson began, but was cut off by Gardevoir's fist connecting with the side of his mouth.

Gardevoir angrily watched Nelson as he stumbled backwards, managing to regain his balance and avoid falling. He looked towards the floor as he felt his lip. When he looked at his bloody fingers, he growled in anger.

"You're gonna regret that, bitch!" He spat out in a fit of anger, before storming over to Gardevoir. He reared his fist back, causing Gardevoir to flinch, preparing for whatever amount of pain she was about to feel. But it didn't come. Before it could, they were interrupted.

"Nelson! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" A voice roared, causing Nelson to freeze in his tracks. The voice belonged to Gavin. Gardevoir knew that already.

"She punched me!" Nelson exclaimed in defense, as he turned to have his boss. Gavin stared at him, before taking a glance at the food covered Pokémon.

"From the way she looks, it seems like you may have deserved it." Gavin said. He stared at Gardevoir for several more seconds, before quickly stepping forward with his fist balled, and decking Nelson right in the jaw sending him down to the floor. This surprised even Gardevoir. Nelson sat on the floor, staring up at his boss in a shocked-daze. "I gave you direct orders to deliver her her food and leave. And you couldn't even do that. Now get your pathetic ass up and get out of my sight." He spoke, his tone sounding very intimidating. Nelson continued to sit on the cold, hard floor staring at him for several more seconds, before scrambling to his feet and exiting the room, nudging past the guard that had been watching the door. Gavin huffed in annoyance as he left the room. "Go get her a towel to dry off with." He ordered the guard.

"Yes, Sir." The man said, before leaving his position to recover a towel.

Gardevoir stood in silence, staring at Gavin, as he watched the guard leave. After, he turned around to face the Pokémon. She quickly looked away from him as he did, not wanting to make any sort of eye contact with him.

"My apologies for Nelson's behavior. I'll have another tray brought to your room by another Team Scavenge member." Gavin said, his tone had changed, but his voice still made Gardevoir feel very uncomfortable. She didn't want anymore food. She wanted out of there and to be with Brennan again. But she didn't even want to give Gavin the satisfaction of a response, so she didn't. She sat back down on the bed, pretending that he wasn't even in the room with her. He stood there watching her slow movements, before letting out a light chuckle. "My dear, you can't ignore me forever. Because quite frankly, I don't appreciate it." He said, his voice sounding angrier as he finished. After he did, he pulled out the small remote that controlled the shock collar on Gardevoir's neck, and pressed the button.

Gardevoir let out a loud cry in pain as she once again felt the strong surge of electricity coursing through her body. She fell down onto the now wet and dirty sheets on the uncomfortable mattress, the pain becoming too much to bare. It lasted about ten seconds before it finally stopped. Gardevoir panted, trying to catch her breath, as she lay there motionlessly.

"Now, attacking Team Scavenge members is a no no. I don't want to be the bad guy and punish you, but if you're going to learn, it needs to be done." Gavin said, staring down at Gardevoir as he did. She continued to remain lying still, still feeling the after effects of the shock collar. Gavin let out a single chuckle, as a mocking smirk replaced his previously displayed look of anger. "I'm going to allow you time to rest up after that. However, you better be prepared to answer me next time I see you. Because if you don't, that shock will be a whole lot worse than its been so far. I promise you that, Gardevoir." He told her. As he finished, the guard he had sent away returned with a towel in hand. He walked in and noticed the downed Pokémon first, before looking towards his boss.

"Here is that towel, sir." He said, extending the towel towards the man.

"Thank you, Owen." Gavin thanked the guard, as he took the towel from him. Even though it was a thank you, his tone still remained very intimidating. So much so that the guard, Owen, couldn't even take his boss' recognition as something positive.

"You're welcome, Sir." Owen replied. Gavin didn't respond, as he turned his eyes back towards Gardevoir.

"Here, dry yourself off." He said, as he tossed the towel towards Gardevoir. It landed just beside her on the mattress. She remained still as it landed. Gavin stared at her for several seconds before continuing. "You'll get used to the way we do things here. I know you will." He said. After, he huffed again, before exiting room. Owen closed the large, steel door behind him as they exited the room, once again leaving Gardevoir alone.

Gardevoir laid there in silence for several seconds afterwards, before tears welled up in her eyes, finally forcing themselves out. As she softly cried, she curled up into a ball, and just laid there unmoving. She wanted out of there. She wanted to be with Brennan again. She just wanted to go home.

•••

•••

•••

The walk-the walk had continued to be a torturous one for Brennan. The longer they walked, he kept wondering if they were even going to get to Team Scavenge's hideout. It seemed like they had been walking in place for hours considering they were surrounded by nothing but trees and bushes on the left side, and a mixture of sandy and grassy field on the right.

Brennan wanted to take off running full speed again, but Becky, the girl that had saved him from being torn apart just a good handful of hours before, somehow managed to convince him otherwise. She insisted that trying to push himself again like he had already done once today was a bad idea, and that next time it could kill him instead of just causing him to pass out from exhaustion. And dying was the last thing Brennan wanted to do at that moment.

"So... how did you meet her?" Becky asked, trying once again to break the silence between her and Brennan. Brennan's mind had been wandering, so he didn't respond at first.

"Huh?" He said curiously, finally looking over at her.

"Your Gardevoir, how did you meet her?" Becky asked again, this made Brennan immediately think back to the day he first saw Gardevoir. Although they didn't technically meet until after that, he remembered the first time he saw her standing in that small clearing.

Becky continued walking along side of him, staring at him as he remained lost in thought. She was thinking about getting his attention again, but decided not to. She shrugged it off figuring that he'd talk when he wanted to talk, before grabbing the straps of her backpack as she looked ahead again.

"Outside of the mall back in Slateport. I saw her, and I took her some berries." Brennan finally replied several minutes later, slightly catching Becky off guard. She was about to speak, but decided to let Brennan continue. "She was alone, hungry. I... didn't meet her till after that though." He continued.

"So when did you finally catch her? I bet she was pretty willing, aye?" Becky said curiously. Brennan shook his head.

"I didn't catch her. My Pokémon and I, we saved her from being attacked by a pack of Ursaring'. After that, I didn't want to leave her out there. She didn't deserve it. I asked her if she wanted to come stay with us. She did. She's been with us since." Brennan explained, this slightly surprised Becky. "I may not have caught her, but she's just as important to me as the rest of my Pokémon are. That's why I have to get her back. That's why..." He continued, glancing down towards the ground as he finished. He wasn't sure why he told her so much. He had just met her a couple of hours ago, and he was explaining his and Gardevoir's relationship to her? Sure she had saved him from being torn apart by a group of wild Mightyena'. And sure she brought his unconscious form back to her camp and let him sleep off his tiredness in her tent, and eat her food. But still.

"That's actually really sweet, ya know?" Becky said, still not taking her eyes off of him. Brennan grumbled something, seeming to be lost in thought again. "I don't want ya worryin'! My Pokémon and I are goin' to help ya get your Gardevoir back, right team!?" She exclaimed, happily glancing back at her team of Pokémon. There was a mixture of happy Pokémon cries from behind. All except for one, Gothitelle.

She had been following at the back of the group, staring at the back of Brennan's head the whole walk thus far. She was reading him; trying to learn more about who he was. She wasn't as trusting of people as her trainer was. And so far, she didn't fully trust Brennan.

"See! We may have just met, but we're goin' ta be by your side till the end!" Becky exclaimed, cheerfully slapping Brennan on the back as she did. This finally got him to look at her again.

"I, uh-thank you." He said, before looking straight again. After that, it left Brennan wondering why Becky was willing to do go through all of this for someone she just met. Her positive personality and happy demeanor definitely made her seem like a very helpful and trusting person, but she hadn't even known him twelve hours yet. So he was still left pretty confused.

The duo continued their walk ahead with Becky's Pokémon following behind them. Becky had continued talking, even though Brennan would only occasionally reply with anything other than a grunt. He just didn't really feel like talking at that point. He was still way too worried about what was going on with Gardevoir to even think about anything else.

As Becky rambled on about her first gym battle, something finally broke him from his thoughts. His bracelet, the one with his Key Stone it, it started to glow. Or, at least the Key Stone did. This caused Brennan to stop and stare at it in surprise. Becky, who hadn't noticed he had stopped walking, kept going for several seconds, until she realized he wasn't there anymore. She stopped and turned around, noticing Brennan staring at his glowing bracelet.

"Woah... that's'a cool bracelet." Becky said, as she walked back over to Brennan, stopping when she got close to him so she could stare at his bracelet like he was doing. "It ever done that before?" She asked, once the glowing finally ceased. Brennan stared at it for several more seconds, before shaking his head.

"No. No it hasn't." He replied somewhat quietly. After, he turned around to look behind him, but didn't see anything except for Becky's Pokémon. He turned back around to face forward again, quickly shaking his head, before continuing on his way. Becky was quick to catch up.

"You aren't goin' to worry about what that was about?" She asked.

"No. I don't have time to worry. I doubt it was anything anyway." Brennan replied. Becky honestly wasn't too sure. She figured that it had to mean something. But it was Brennan's, so it's not like she could tell him what to do or how to feel about it.

She looked over at Brennan once again and saw that his serious, determined expression returned to his face. She could tell that he had already pushed the happenings of his bracelet to the back of his mind. She knew he was determined to get his Gardevoir back, but it was obvious no more than ever that he was definitely more determined than she originally thought. And with how determined she saw he was, she was determined to help him. And that's what she was going to do.


	21. Chapter 21

It took a couple more hours of walking, but eventually Brennan finally saw a very sketchy looking mountain in the distance. It looked like an ordinary mountain from the outside, but he could tell it wasn't. He stopped and stared at it, taking in the sight of it. Becky stopped next to him, looking from Brennan, to the mountain, back to Brennan.

"So, uh, that's it...?" She asked. Brennan stayed silent for several seconds, before finally replying.

"It has to be." He replied. "Come on." He said as he began moving again, not wanting to waste anymore time than they already had. Becky looked back at her still waiting Pokémon, before motioning them to follow.

Brennan had showed no sign of slowing down, as he speed walked towards the large mountain in distance. Becky picked up her pace to once again catch up to him.

"So, uh, I don't mean to bombard you with questions or anything, but what's your plan when you get there?" Becky asked, looking over at Brennan as she tried to keep up with him. Brennan stayed silent for several seconds, before replying. He didn't look over at her as he did.

"Not sure. All I know is that one way or another, I'll be getting my Gardevoir back." He replied. Becky knew he was determined, that much was obvious to her. But she also knew that determination wasn't going to be enough to get into Team Scavenge's base, track down Gardevoir while trying to get through their more than likely army of team members, and make a quick, easy escape. It wasn't possible. Especially not without a plan.

"I respect that determination of yours, but there ain't no way you're goin' to get in and find your Pokémon without some sort of plan." Becky said. Brennan continued to stare ahead as she did. He stayed silent for several seconds, leaving her waiting for some sort of response. But eventually, he finally did give her one.

"I'll think of something." He replied. Sounding so sure of that as he did. Becky had just met Brennan. He seemed like a pretty smart guy, but she wasn't so sure that he could come up with a plan THAT good in the short amount of time they had left before they got to the front entrance of Team Scavenge's hideout.

The thing is, Brennan didn't know what he was going to do when they got to the hideout. He didn't have any of his Pokémon with him, and knew already that it was going to be heavily guarded. Sure he had Becky's help. But he didn't really even want to get her mixed up in all of this. This was his problem, not hers.

Gothitelle continued to stare a hole through the back of Brennan's head. She had been trying to read him since they started their journey. She could sense worry, and frustration inside of him. But, even though she still didn't particularly trust him, she could feel that he wasn't a bad guy like she had assumed at first. He was a Trainer trying to get his Pokémon back. After her conclusion, she blinked a couple of times as she finally shifted her focus away from him. She looked over to the back of her own Trainer's head, quickly realizing something was wrong. She looked around before noticing a large amount of rocks hurdling towards them.

"Gothitelle!" She exclaimed as she used her telekinesis to block the rocks, protecting the group. She threw them all back towards their attacker as Brennan and Becky looked at her realizing something was happening.

Gothitelle and the rest of Becky's Pokémon stood ready to fight as they joined Brennan and Becky in staring towards the large dirt cloud that had formed in the distance. Several seconds passed before a few people dressed in black outfits and two Rhyperiors' appeared from the cloud.

"Yo! Who are you two and where do ya think you're headed?" A man about Brennan's height, with wildly spiky blue hair asked. Brennan and Becky stared at the men and their Pokémon as they slowly made their way towards them.

"None if your business!" Becky yelled back, not happy about almost being crushed by a bunch of rocks. The three men looked around at each other before looking back towards the group.

"Lookie here, girl. We'll take it easy on ya. You and your boyfriend give us your Pokémon, and we'll let'cha go. Deal?" Another one of the men, slightly taller than the last one, with very unkempt looking dirty blonde hair, said. Brennan shook his head, cutting Becky off before she could respond.

"Look, Why don't you guys ignore us and go back to being the grunts that you are? Because I'm in no mood to deal with you right now." Brennan said. One of the men chuckled at this.

"So you want to do this the hard way, kid? Remember, we were going to let you go. We just wanted your Pokémon. But now, we're going to destroy you, and take them anyways." The blue haired man said. "Rhyperior, use Rock Blast again. This time aim for the trainers'." He ordered.

"Rhy-perior!" The two Rhyperior's roared in unison, before launching their attacks. Gothitelle was quick to interfere, once again blocking the rocks from even getting close enough to hit Brennan or Becky. The blue haired man growled at this.

"Take out the damn Gothitelle first!" He yelled. The two Rhyperior' nodded before doing what they were told. One of the Rhyperior jumped up into the air, moving closer towards the group. It landed, shaking the ground in the process. It had used Bulldozer. No one in the group was quick enough to react besides Gothitelle, who had somehow managed to avoid getting hit. The others got knocked backwards and to the ground. The three Team Scavenge members laughed at this. Gothitelle looked back towards her downed Trainer, before looking towards the Rhyperior once again. She was angry now. More angry than she had been previously.

Brennan sat up, shaking off the sudden impact that he had just made. He looked over towards Becky, who was also pushing herself up off of the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Becky looked at him and nodded.

"Y-yeah. Just wasn't expectin' that." She replied. They watched as Gothitelle protected herself from another one of the Rhyperior's attacks before sending a a bright, purple Psybeam towards him. The Rhyperior wasn't quick enough to dodge, and was left standing there confused as to where it was, or what was going on. This only further angered the Team Scavenge members.

"That's it! I'm done with these games!" The blue haired Scavenger yelled before yanking another Poké Ball off of his belt. He threw it forward causing a third Rhyperior to release through the bright red flash. The other two members followed suit, pulling a Poké Ball each off of their belts. A Metagross appeared from one, and a Dusknoir from the other. A small smirk appeared on Becky's face as she pushed herself back to her feet.

"Team! Let's show these clowns that messin' with us was a bad idea!" Becky exclaimed, trying to rally her small team of Pokémon. Brennan watched her for several seconds before climbing back to his own feet.

"Becky, I don't know about this. Maybe we should-" Brennan started before being cut off by Becky placing a finger to his lips. She knew what he was going to suggest, even though he didn't want to.

"I ain't runnin'. These guys' want to threaten to steal my Pokémon? They ain't gettin' away with that." Becky said as she removed her finger from his lips. Brennan remained silent, prompting her to continue. "You go. Get your Gardevoir back. We'll take care of these guys." She continued. Brennan shook his head. He couldn't just leave them. Especially not with the situation they were currently in.

"No. You can't expect me to just leave you guys after what you did for me." He said. Becky nodded.

"I can. We can hold them off while you get a head start. It'll be less of them you have to worry about." Becky said. Brennan stood in silence trying to think of what he should do. As he mentally fought with himself, he noticed out of the corner of his eye another large chunk of rock headed straight towards them.

"Look out!" Brennan yelled as he tackled Becky back down to the ground, avoiding the large rock in the process. Gothitelle had been busy trying to keep Metagross and Dusknoir at bay, so she wasn't able to block the oncoming attack.

Becky's eyes grew pretty wide as she looked up at Brennan, who was currently lying on top of her. Brennan looked from Rhyperior, down to Becky to make sure she was okay.

"Thanks. I owe ya one." Becky said. Brennan shook his head.

"You don't." He replied. After, he remained staring at her for several more seconds before finally realizing the very awkward position they were in. "O-oh, uh... I'm-I'm sorry." He said in embarrassment as he climbed off of her. Becky's own cheeks were also slightly red at this point.

"It's fine, really. Don't worry about it." She said as she sat up. An awkward silence started between the two as Becky climbed back to her feet. They didn't keep it long before they were interrupted by Gothitelle letting out a loud, angry cry, as she sent a very powerful Psyshock blasting towards Dusknoir. He was not quick enough to dodge it, and was sent flying backwards before finally crashing hard into the ground. The three Team Scavenge members didn't like this. As they were distracted, Becky grabbed Brennan's shoulder, once again getting his attention.

"You need to go while they're distracted! Don't argue with me anymore. We'll be fine. I've been in bigger battles before. So you don't need to worry about us." Becky said. Brennan stared at her for several seconds before finally agreeing to do what she told him to.

"Okay, I'll go. Thank you..." he said. Becky flashed him a small smile, and gave him a nod. After that, Brennan turned and took off running ahead, leaving Becky and her Pokémon to take care of the three Team Scavenge members.

"Go get your Gardevoir back, Brennan." Becky said to herself as she watched Brennan run into the distance. Several seconds passed before she finally looked back towards her Pokémon. "Okay y'all, now let's get the real fun started." She said in a very determined tone before looking back towards the Team Scavenge members.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir had remained curled in a ball on the bed ever since what had happened with Gavin. She was eventually brought another plate of food that wasn't thrown at her this time, but she left it where it was sat down. She didn't want to eat their food, no matter how hungry she was. She didn't want anything to do with these people.

She had pretty much cried all the tears she could cry at that moment. She just kept asking herself when, and if Brennan was coming to save her. The thought of him abandoning her kept forcing itself into her mind, no matter how hard she tried not to let it. At this point, thinking thoughts like that wasn't going to help. It was just going to make things worse if anything.

Eventually she sat up and tried to wipe some of the wetness off of her face. The squeaking the old springs in the mattress made when she moved was the first noise that had been heard in the small room since she stopped crying. After she wiped her face, she just sat there staring at the wall across from her. There was nothing else for her to do.

As she sat there, Brennan popped back into her mind. He had pretty much been what she had been thinking about since she got there. She couldn't help it. He just made her so happy. And regardless of the negative thoughts wondering if he was coming to save her that kept forcing their way into her mind, just thinking about him was helping her through her current situation better than if she wasn't.

She pictured him barging into the room any second, taking her by the hand, and running them to their freedom. Maybe knocking Gavin on his ass before so. Because he really deserved it. She imagined him being her hero. She also imagined rewarding her hero with a kiss. She bit her bottom lip as that thought appeared in her mind. Before her thoughts could go any further, however, there was a loud knock on the door. This brought her back to the place where she didn't want to be. Several seconds passed before the door finally opened and Gavin walked in with that same expression on his face that always made her feel very uncomfortable.

"So, Gardevoir, you've had plenty of time to rest. Are you ready to talk to me yet? Not that you really have a choice in the matter." Gavin said as he slightly pulled something up halfway out of his pocket to show Gardevoir. She looked at his hand and immediately took notice to the remote of the shock collar. Gavin let out a mocking chuckle as he slid it back into his packet. He knew Gardevoir had seen the remote. That's exactly what he had wanted. Gardevoir's harsh glare returned to her face as she stared at him, not that she wanted to. She just didn't want to get shocked again. "That's what I thought. I'm glad you've wise up a little bit." He said as he walked closer to her. This prompted Gardevoir to scoot further back on the bed. A sneer formed on Gavin's face when he saw this.

"Don't be afraid of me, Gardevoir. I just want to talk. That's all." He said, his tone just made it worse. As he continued to slowly creep towards the bed, he noticed the untouched tray of food still resting in the same spot on the bed as it was when it was brought in. "I see you didn't eat your food, hmm." Gardevoir didn't respond. She just continued to stare at him. He huffed before continuing. "I want to know more about you. You may not want me to, but you're going to tell me one way or another." He ordered. Gardevoir's glare remained on her face as she stared at him. She wanted to stay quiet. She really did. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he forced her to speak to him. But she also didn't want to get shocked again, so she really didn't have a choice.

"Gardevoir." She finally grumbled out. Gavin's sneer slightly grew as she did.

"Ahh, good choice my dear. Good choice. I really didn't want to have to use the collar again." He said. Gardevoir was not pleased with this in the slightest. "Now, I'm curious to know how you managed to survive out in the wild for so long. I mean, nineteen years. That's impressive. And I know you haven't been with that trainer long. So it obviously wasn't because of him." His words angered Gardevoir. She didn't like him talking about Brennan in any way. Gavin took notice to the way she was slowly clenching her fists. He let out another mocking chuckle as she did. "I promise you, that's not a good idea. I know you're smart enough to do the right thing. And we both know what that is. It'll save me from having to shock you again." He said. Gardevoir was still angry, but she was forced to listen to him. She slowly relaxed her hands once again, which prompted Gavin's next comment. "Good girl." He said. That somehow made Gardevoir's disdain for him grow even more.

"I want to know if you were alone before that trainer found you? Did you manage to survive by yourself out in the wild for that long? Because if so, it does look like you've managed to take pretty good care of yourself. You don't often see that in wild Pokémon." Gavin said. The question may have been innocent enough, but his tone of voice made it sound just as harsh as everything else he's said to her. Gardevoir remained silent for several seconds, as Gavin sat waiting for her answer. He knew she was going to give it to him, so he was being patient.

"Voir." She replied very angrily and reluctantly. She gave an almost unnoticeable nod as she did so she didn't have to repeat herself. Even though that wasn't the full truth, she didn't care. Not that he was going to be able to understand her regardless, she wasn't going to tell him anything. Gavin slightly narrowed his eyes at her, refusing to look away.

"Hmm..." he hummed. The way he was staring at her was making Gardevoir feel even more uncomfortable than she already was. Several seconds of a very uncomfortable silence passed before he spoke again. "I see. If that is the case, you've managed. You're definitely going to be an asset. That's for sure." He said. Gardevoir frowned at that and looked away. She wasn't going to be anything to these people. Even if it meant them killing her. She would have rather died than work for them. Gavin let out another chuckle at her response. "Still against the idea of being her, hmm. Well, that'll change, Gardevoir. It has to. Again, I apologize for what Nelson did. He paid for that one. I promise you. But you'll learn, we aren't all bad people. Hey, I'm probably a better guy than that trainer of yours." He continued on. Gardevoir let out another low, angrily growl. She started to clench her fists again, but quickly went back to relaxing them. Gavin stood with a smirk on his face having noticed. He continued on after he did. "I've noticed a pattern here, Gardevoir. It seems to me that you don't like me talking about that trainer, do you? *Huff*. Hey, if it upsets you THAT much, then I won't mention him again. Maybe it'll help you move on from him faster." He said. Gardevoir shook her head at this. She wasn't going to move on from Brennan. She refused to.

"Now, now. Don't shake your head. We've still got a lot to talk about. So I would like it if you lost that attitude you seem to have. Because... one button is all it takes. Remember that." Gavin said, once again reminding Gardevoir that he had the remote to the collar. Gardevoir's glare returned to her face as she looked back towards Gavin. She hated the smirk he had on his face. He was mocking her, and she knew it. But Gavin was quite enjoying himself "Now... where were we?"

•••

•••

•••

Lane had now been driving close to an hour, and they still hadn't seen any signs of either Blaziken, or Brennan. Luna had kept the same very worried expression on her face the whole time, as her eyes traveled around the largely, vast grassy area outside of her window.

"I can't believe Blaziken actually got this far ahead of us." Lane commented, keeping his eyes on the route in front of him.

"Yeah, I know. You still haven't seen either one of them?" She asked worryingly, looking over at her boyfriend as she did. She was hopeful, even though she already knew the answer he was going to give her. He looked over at her and shook his head.

"No, I haven't. I would have said something if I did." He replied. The little bit of hope that Luna had had vanished in an instant with her boyfriend's reply.

"Don't worry Luna, we'll find them." Lane said trying to reassure his very worried girlfriend. He hated to see her like this. He was worried about Brennan and Blaziken too. But he knew that Luna and Brennan were a lot closer than he and Brennan were. They had a close brother/sister relationship ever since they were kids. So she had every right to be worried the way she was. Especially considering Brennan went to try and face Team Scavenge, arguably the most dangerous team in the whole Hoenn region, by himself.

But Luna wasn't the only one that was worried. Delphox was hoping just as much as Luna was that they'd find Brennan and Blaziken. Blaziken could be pretty hot headed at times, and Delphox knew that. She was worried that with or without Brennan, he would do something stupid. And she didn't want to see anything happen to him.

Frankie had been sitting in the back, pinned up against the far left side of the car due to how cramped the backseat was with Delphox, plus most of Brennan's Pokémon. He had been staring out the window trying to ignore the fact that the whole right side of his body was asleep from being pinned against car. The longer and longer they drove, and the closer and closer they got to Team Scavenge's hideout, the more and more uneasy he grew. He hadn't said anything since his suggestion earlier, because it clearly anger or annoyed the others.

"Stop the car." Luna said abruptly, breaking Frankie from his thoughts.

"What?" Lane said in confusion.

"Stop the car! There's something over there!" Luna exclaimed, pointing frantically towards something in the distance. Lane listened to his girlfriend and slowed the car to a stop once he saw that she was right. There was something just off the route. Once the car stopped, Luna quickly jumped out and ran towards it.

"Hey! Luna! Wait! You don't even know what that is!" Lame called as he quickly climbed out of the car and ran to try and catch up with his girlfriend. Frankie struggled to open the back passenger door to follow suit. But once he was finally able to, he flew out of the car and face planted the ground as Brennan's Pokémon shoved past him.

"O-ow..." Frankie groaned in pain after being trampled over by the group of Pokémon.

Luna ran as fast as she could, her heart pounding as she did, fearing what she was about to see. She finally slowed to a stop once she got to what was laying on the side of the route. Lane caught up to her and was left just as surprised as she was. There were three unconscious Team Scavenge members, three Rhyperior, a Dusknoir, and a Metagross. As Luna stared down at them, Lane looked around the area to see if he could see something, or someone. But there was nothing. Just mountains, trees, and grass.

"Brennan couldn't have done this by himself." Lane said, turning back to face his girlfriend.

"What about Blaziken? Maybe he caught up with him." Luna suggested, once again sounding hopeful as she did. Lane was still a little unsure. But at that point, he didn't know what to think.

Delphox ran up next, followed by Brennan's Pokémon. Mightyena immediately grew very disappointed, yet relieved when he saw it wasn't Brennan. Delphox looked around at the mess of laid out bodies before looking at her Trainer.

"I don't know who did it, but something took them out. And depending on who it was— I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing." Lane said. Luna stared down towards the unconscious strangers for several more seconds before nodding.

"It doesn't matter. It's not Brennan. We have to keep moving. Maybe he and Blaziken are together." She said, placing a hand on her worried Pokémon's shoulder.

"Hopefully they are. Regardless, we'll find them." Lane said. Luna was counting on her boyfriends words at this point. She knew they were going to find them. Again, she just hoped that was before they did something stupid.

"Okay. Then we need to start moving again." Luna said. Lane nodded before motioning towards the car with his head.

"Alright, lets go." He said before he and the rest of he group headed back towards the car, leaving the unconscious Team Scavenge members where they lay. Frankie had remained on the trail a few feet ahead of the car staring further down the route. There it was, Team Scavenge's hideout. He knew that was it. And it made his stomach curl into knots. It was a terrible feeling.

"Hey, Frankie, come on." Lane called over to him, breaking Frankie from his thoughts. Frankie stared ahead for a few more seconds before turning to face the others.

"O-okay." He said in a somewhat hushed tone before making his way back to the car. Now it was time for him to squeeze back into, which he definitely wasn't looking forward to.

Once everyone was back in, they continued their drive. They were almost to Team Scavenge's hideout. So they were hoping they were going to find Brennan.

•••

•••

•••

After splitting away from Becky, Brennan continued on the route for several more minutes before finally deciding it would probably be a better idea if he tried to hide himself just in case there were more Team Scavenge members hiding somewhere. He ran off route and ducked into the tree line of the forest on the left side of it. He maneuvered his way around trees and through bushes, which ended up taking more time than it would have to just stay on the route. But he figured he would rather be safe than sorry.

Once Brennan finally got close enough to the front entrance of Team Scavenge's base, he peaked out from behind the large tree he was currently hiding behind to see what he could see. There were two Team Scavenge members blocking the large metal doors that led inside of the base of the mountain. Brennan had never seen anything like that in real life before. So it kinda caught him off guard to see. He was expecting there to be guards, though. So that wasn't surprising to him in the slightest. Now he just needed to come up with an idea to get past them. He knew with no Pokémon that was going to be a challenge.

He slid his backpack off of his back and pressed his back against the tree as he tried to come up with something to get rid of the two Team Scavenge members. As he thought, he unzipped his backpack and pulled one the one water he had left out of it. It wasn't much, but he needed something to wet his throat. Feeling the lukewarm water run down his throat was unsavory. He really did hate drinking warm water. But at this point, he didn't have any other choice. As he finished what was left of his disgusting water, he tossed the empty bottle back into his bag.

He was getting ready to zip it back up when he heard a growl. He quickly looked up noticing a pack of Mightyena circling him. They had to have been the same ones from the night before.

"Oh, shit..." he said not really sure of what else to say at that moment. He tried backing up, completing forgetting that his back was already pressed against a tree. "U-Uh... g-good, Mightyena." He said nervously as he put his hands up. He made it this far already. He needed to avoid getting torn about by these Mightyena. Becky had saved him once, but he didn't figure he'd luck out a second time. As they closed in on him, he grabbed his bag and slowly started stepping away from the tree. He knew he wasn't going to be able to outrun them. But he also knew keeping himself cornered wasn't the greatest idea either.

As he slowly stepped away from the tree, he looked down into his bag to see if there was anything in that he could possibly use to defend himself. Besides Luna's lantern, there wasn't. He was getting ready to pull the lantern out to use it, when he noticed the granola bars he had packed. An idea instantly popped into his head when he did.

"A-are you guys hungry? Is that it? I-I got these if-if you want them." He said as he pulled them out and held them towards the group of Pokémon. They stared at his hand before letting out another group of growls. "I-it's not much... but-but it's all I have." He said. He finally got away from the tree and started backing up out of the tree line. He knew it was risky, but he had an idea. He wasn't sure it would work, but it was worth a try.

He opened the granola bars as he backed up. Once they were open, he continued waving them towards the pack of obviously angry, and hopefully hungry Mightyena. Luckily for him, he had managed to avoid making it into the two guards viewpoint. At least at that moment. Once he got to where he wanted, almost tripping backwards as he did, but he managed to maintain his footing. He threw he quick glance back towards the two guards.

"O-okay, you want these?" Brennan asked, waving the granola bars closer towards one of the Mightyena'. He snapped his jaw closed, almost biting his hand off. It probably would have if he wouldn't have reclined it fast enough. At least it answered his question that they did want food. "G-go get them!" He said as he threw the two bars towards the guards watching the door. The pack of Mightyena' took off racing towards the guards. Brennan ducked behind a large, nearby rock as they did, watching to see what would happen. The pack of wild Mightyena' immediately caught the attention of the two guards watching the doors. He watched as one of them pulled out some sort of keycard to try and open the doors to get inside, but wasn't able to before the Mightyena' closed in. The guards took off away from the doors as they Mightyena' chased them away. They had quickly gobbled up the granola bars, but were very obviously still hungry. A small smile formed on Brennan's face as they chased the guards into the distance.

Once it was clear, he quickly made his way towards the door. It was definitely a sight to see. The two large, metal doors were installed a few feet into where the entrance into the mountain would have been. It was obvious that it used to be some sort of cave that Team Scavenge took over. He walked closer to the door before noticing the scanner for the key card. He looked around before spotting the one the Team Scavenge members dropped at his feet. He smiled as he picked it up.

He stared at the card for several seconds before finally looking back towards the scanner. He was getting ready to slide it, when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder. He turned around in a panic, ready to try and fight off whoever had grabbed him. But he didn't need to. Standing before him was... Blaziken.

"Blaziken? What are you doing here? Where are the others?" He asked, his panic starting to fade.

"Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken." Blaziken replied. He was clearly annoyed. Brennan figured he knew why that was. "Blaziken. Blaziken." He continued, pointing behind himself as he did.

"Left them? Where?" Brennan asked. Blaziken was getting ready to respond, when a loud gunshot, followed by a Yelp was heard in the distance. Several more gunshots followed suit. Brennan's blood ran cold knowing exactly what it was. "N-no time to talk. We have to go." He said before turning and sliding the keycard into the scanner, unlocking the door to Team Scavenge's hideout.

For being large and metal, the doors were surprisingly quiet as he opened them. Once they were opened, he peaked inside to make sure the coast was clear. It was. After, he looked back at Blaziken.

"Stay close. Don't run off. And keep quiet." He told his Pokémon. Blaziken nodded in response. After, Brennan motioned for him to follow with his head. They were now entering the place that was going to change their life's... forever.


	22. Chapter 22

After finding the group of knocked out Team Scavenge members, it didn't take the Lane and company much longer to get to the team's hideout. They stopped the car when they got close and abandoned it, figuring it would be safer and smarter if they went the rest of the way on foot.

They made their way into the woods on the side of the trail and walked until they finally saw what they were sure was the front entrance of the hideout. The group stood in the mixture of trees and bushes staring at the large, steel doors in the distance.

"Frankie, that's it?" Lane asked not looking over at the man as he asked the question. Frankie stood there very nervously staring at the doors. He was shaking—sweating. He knew they shouldn't be there right now, but they were. His continued silence finally got Lane to look over at him. "Hey, Frankie, this is the place, right?" He said, sounding slightly more annoyed this time. Frankie slowly nodded as he continued to stare ahead. Once he stopped nodding, he looked over at the other man.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, this is it." He replied in a very unenthusiastic tone. Lane nodded before looking over at his girlfriend.

"Brennan has to be here by now." Luna said before Lane could speak. Lane looked off to the side before looking back at her.

"He may be. Frankie and I are going to go in. I want you to wait out here with the others." Lane ordered. The others didn't look too thrilled with his plan.

"There is no way I'm waiting out here! No way!" Luna said, slightly raising her voice in annoyance as she did. This prompted Lane to shush her just to make sure they didn't get caught before they could even get inside.

"Luna, this is dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt." Lane said.

"If you knew it was dangerous, then why did you let me come? Not that you would have been able to stop me from coming either way." Luna said. Lane honestly didn't really have an answer for that one. He eventually decided to sigh before responding.

"I know I wouldn't have. You care too much about Brennan to not help him. But by staying out here and watching his Pokémon, helping him is what you're going to be doing." Lane tried to convince her, but she still wasn't having any of it.

"Lane, I'm not staying out here while you two go in there. It's not happening." Luna said. Her stubbornness was really starting to show at that point. But Lane couldn't be mad at her for it. She was determined to help Brennan, and he knew that. It was honestly one of the things he loved about his girlfriend the most.

"Champ. Champ. Machamp." Machamp spoke up, shaking his head as he did. He wasn't going to just sit there and do nothing either. Not while his trainer was in trouble.

"Machamp, please..." Lane pleaded with the Pokémon. But no matter how much he did, it wasn't changing his mind either. Mightyena, Sandslash, and Roserade agreed with him too. They knew they couldn't not do anything. They NEEDED to help too. Lane let out another sigh as he looked around at the group. "So I guess all of you have your minds made up already, aye?" He said curiously. Luna nodded.

"We have." She replied. Lane closed his eyes and shook his head before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Look, if you guys are all going to come we HAVE to be careful. If we get caught there's no telling what they'll do to us. That means we stay low, we stay quiet, and we stay together. Got it?" Lane asked sternly as he looked around at the group. They all nodded. "Okay. Then let's go." He said. Just as they were getting ready to move... they were stopped.

"You're not going nowhere." A voice said. Lane froze as he felt something cold press up against his back. He knew exactly what it was... a gun. He slowly looked to the side seeing that everyone else was now in that same situation.

"You assholes just made the biggest mistake of your lives coming here." Another man said. This one sounded more gruff than the last.

Luna slowly looked over towards Lane. When they locked eyes, Lane could tell she was trying to keep calm on the outside, but they had been together long enough for him to be able to tell that she was terrified on the inside.

"Get movin', asshole. Boss ain't gonna be happy with your sneakin' around." The man said, before grabbing Lane's shoulder and shoving him forward. Lane stumbled out of the tree line and back onto the trail before tripping and falling on his knees into the dirt.

"Lane!" Luna called in panic as she watched her boyfriend being manhandled.

"Shut up!" The man who was holding her yelled loudly behind her. Lane quickly pushed himself back up before looking back at his girlfriend.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. Just... listen to them." Lane said. He didn't want to, but at that moment, he didn't want to see anyone else get hurt. The man who shoved him huffed before grabbing his shirt and yanking him back to his feet.

"Smart move, dumbass." He said before he continued shoving him towards the entrance of the base. The others were forced to move behind him. Delphox looked like she wanted to burn their attackers. She didn't like how they were treating the others, especially not her trainer, Luna.

Frankie, who still hadn't said anything up until that point was visibly shaking. His heart was pounding a hundred miles an hour. At one point he considered trying to run, but that thought went away just as fast as it came when he realized he wouldn't be able to outrun a speeding bullet. This wasn't going to end well, and he knew it.

As they neared the large, metal doors to the hideout, the man with his gun pressed to Lane's back let go of his shirt and pulled the walkie-talkie off of his belt.

"Marcus, get the door." The man started before a small smirk formed on his face. "And bring back up. Got some snoopers that boss may want to meet." He continued before forcing the barrel of his gun further into Lane's back. He swallowed back the lump in his throat as he again tried to keep calm. He could feel the outline of the cold, metal barrel being forced into his back through his shirt. Small beads of sweat ran down his face at the realization that this was easily the scariest situation he had ever been in before.

The man only seemed to press the gun deeper into his back as they waited for whomever he had just called for.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir was still sitting on the bed being forced to corporate with Gavin, now even more worn out and in pain than before. He had already shocked her twice because she didn't answer his questions at a speed he deemed appropriate.

"Now, Gardevoir, I am aware that some psychic type Pokémon can communicate telepathically, are you able to do that?" Gavin asked. Gardevoir stared at Gavin with her tired, half-lidded glare. She slowly shook her head as she forced herself to sit back against the wall to refrain from falling over. Gavin gave her an almost unnoticeable nod as he stared at her.

"That's unfortunate. It really is. You would have definitely been 'The Miracle Pokémon', if you were able to. I mean, along with those other special assets of yours." He said. Gardevoir knew what he was talking about, and she was disgusted by it. "Speaking of that, that brings me to my next question—a pretty important one actually. Mating season happens to every Pokémon every year. So... over the past nineteen years, how have YOUR mating seasons been? Do you have any children you have neglected to inform me about?" He asked. Again, Gardevoir was disgusted by this question. She didn't want to talk about this kind of thing. Especially not with Gavin of all people. Even though she hadn't done anything remotely close to that with another Pokémon, so she obviously didn't have kids.

She continued staring ahead at Gavin with her tired, angry glare before finally shaking her head. "Voir..." she replied in a muttered tone. Gavin hummed at her answer.

"No children actually works in my favor. You're obviously capable of mating, but what I need an answer to is if you're capable of breeding. Again, your uniqueness really brings up a lot of questions that I intend on getting answers to." He said. He sounded so sure that he was going to get those answers. Gardevoir wished so badly that she could just slap that stupid mocking smirk off of it his face. But she knew if she tried to, he would more than likely shock her until she died. And she didn't want his face to be the last thing she saw. "So, just to let you know ahead of time, regardless of whether you want to or not, breeding is something you WILL be doing. As I've already told you, I have questions I WILL be getting the answers to." He continued. Gardevoir kept her glare on him for several seconds before finally looking away. Gavin chuckled as she did. He was getting ready to speak again when there was a knock on the door. His smirk turned into an annoyed frown as they were interrupted.

"What?!" Gavin called. The door slightly opened and another unnamed member of Team Scavenge peaked his head into the room.

"Sir, we have an urgent situation." The man said. Gavin stared at him before looking back at Gardevoir. He approached the door so he could find out what the ''urgent'' situation was. Gardevoir tiredly glanced over at the two men, but couldn't hear what they were conversing about.

"Take them to the Main Lab. Keep them guarded at all time." Gardevoir heard Gavin order. Hearing it made her heart rate pick up. Who was he talking about?

"Yes, sir." The other man replied at his orders. As he walked off, Gavin looked back towards Gardevoir, who quickly looked away.

"It seems we have to cut this conversation short, Gardevoir. There is an urgent matter I need to attend to. Don't think this is it, though. We still have plenty to talk about." He said as a small smirk once again formed on his face. Gardevoir again refused to look at him. Gavin's smirk remained as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Gardevoir was left alone once again. But now, the only thing she could think about was what she had overheard Gavin say. "Take THEM to the main lab. Keep THEM guarded at all times." Sure, he could have been talking about anyone, or anything. More innocent Pokémon they had captured, or even some kind of other group they were working with, but she knew he could have also been talking about Brennan and his Pokémon. What if they had come to rescue her, but were caught? What if Gavin and his cronies did something to them—hurt them, or... worse. Panic started to set in. She wanted Brennan to come for her, but she didn't want him risking his, or his Pokémon's life's doing so. Even if Gavin planned to let her live, she would have never been able to forgive herself if something happened to Brennan because of her.

She hugged her knees to her chest as she leaned up against the wall next to the bed. She closed her eyes tight, as she mentally told herself over and over again that Brennan was okay. It was the only thing she could do. She was helpless at this point. Trapped... even though she didn't want to be. She was left alone with the thought that something was going to happen to Brennan. And that thought scared her more than anything Gavin or any of his cronies could do to her.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan and Blaziken were very carefully sneaking their way through Team Scavenge's hideout. They really didn't know where they were going, but Brennan was hoping it would end up leading them to Gardevoir. They had had several close calls already, but had managed to avoid being spotted. Blaziken's height wasn't doing too much to help them either.

As they slowly made their way down the long corridor, Brennan couldn't help but worry about just what state Gardevoir was going to be in when they found her. He was starting to worry that maybe they were too late. That feeling alone made him feel sick to his stomach. As Blaziken followed closely behind his trainer, he could tell that he was starting to zone out again, and in this situation, that wasn't a good idea. He lightly tapped Brennan's shoulder, getting him to look back towards him. Deciding to keep quiet, Brennan gave him a nod in response.

He needed to stay focused. Blaziken was going to help him do that. Of course there was a lot to worry about, but with what he and Blaziken were currently in the middle of doing, losing focus is the last thing they needed. They would surely get caught if that happened. And they didn't want, nor need that.

As they continued down the corridor, they were eventually led to a crossroads. There were three different hallways they could have gone down, and they had no idea which one to pick. Brennan figured they only had one chance to pick the right one, so he couldn't mess up. As Brennan was getting ready to decide, he was interrupted by multiple loud footsteps running down the hallway to the right of them. He quickly looked at Blaziken before looking around the surrounding area as panic began to sat in. They needed to find somewhere to hide, and quick. That's when he took notice to a door to the right of them. He quickly grabbed the knob hoping it would be unlocked... and to his relief it was. He grabbed Blaziken's arm and pulled him into the room before quickly and quietly pulling the door closed.

Brennan pressed his ear to the door seeing if he could hear anything from the other side. The footsteps persisted past the door, running in the direction he and Blaziken had just come from. Once they passed, Brennan leaned against the door, closed his eyes, and sighed. As he tried to relax for just a minute, Blaziken lit up a small flame the give the bitch black, closet sized room a little light. And a closet was really all it was. There were shelves with some cleaning supplies, and a few mops resting inside of a decent sized bucket in the corner. That's it. But closet or not, he was just happy it had been unlocked for them to hide in.

He took another deep breath before looking back at his Pokémon. "You ready to move?" He asked. Blaziken nodded. After, Brennan very slowly turned the handle on the door and pushed it open just enough for him to be able to peak back out into the corridor. The halls were once again empty, which was a good thing. At least Brennan thought it was.

He pushed the door open as quietly as possible allowing he and Blaziken to squeeze back out into the hallway. He closed the door behind him before looking around again. But again, he was stumped on which way to go. Their hideout may not have seemed like much on the outside, but it was actually quite large inside. Every wall in the corridor was a bland, bleak white color. It looked pretty off considering the floor was just smoother over rock. He was confused as to why they would bother installing a cheap looking wall, but not bother with the floor. Either way, he didn't care. But with how similar everything looked, it just made it even harder for him to decide which way to go.

He started growing very frustrated once again as he thought. He didn't want to make the wrong choice and let Gardevoir down. He wanted to find her. No. He NEEDED to find her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, turning every little bit of focus he had on finding Gardevoir. Scenes started playing back in his mind. The first moment he met Gardevoir in the clearing. How shy she looked to be around him. He and his Pokémon going back to save her from that pack of Ursaring'. Asking her to come back with them, and her agreeing to. How cute and innocent she looked when she tried to use a fork to eat breakfast. Their moment by the water fountain... staring into her big, beautiful crimson eyes. That's when he got a feeling. He could feel Gardevoir.

"Right." Brennan spoke softly, as he reopened his eyes. "We go right." He repeated. Blaziken replied with a single nod even though his trainer didn't even look back at him when he spoke. Brennan took the lead down the right hallway with Blaziken keeping close behind him. They kept their backs to the wall as they very carefully made their way down the hallway.

There were plenty of doors. Thick, metal dark brown ones. They had small windows on them. They reminded Brennan of doors that the classrooms had at school. The first couple of rooms didn't house anything too special. But as they made their way further and further down the hallway... what they saw in the rooms got worse and worse. There were cages... and they had Pokémon trapped inside of them. They looked worn, abused, tired, beaten... it was a horrid sight to say the least. Blaziken's breathing picked up, Brennan could feel it hitting the back of his neck. He looked back at his Pokémon, small tears were swelling up in his eyes. They were tears of anger, sadness... he wanted to help them, and Brennan knew it.

"Blaziken..." Brennan said getting his Pokémon's attention. He shook his head for just a second at him. Blaziken stared at him for several seconds, before looking back into one of the small windows on the door. He watched as a young Skitty tried to fight its way out of the grasp it was currently in. The small Pokémon fought to break free, but he couldn't. As it's attempt proved futile, it let out a loud, pained cry as a large needle pierced its skin. Blaziken balled his fists as more tears of anger forced their way out of his eyes. He wanted to so badly break through the door and light up the two men responsible for harming that poor, innocent Pokémon.

Brennan was as equally angered by what he had just witnessed. But he knew there was nothing they could do about it. It hurt him when the realization sunk in. He wanted to help these Pokémon—free them. But he couldn't. He couldn't risk getting caught at that moment. He needed to find Gardevoir. "I'm sorry. We have to keep moving." He forced himself to say. He knew Blaziken wasn't going to like it, but he also knew he would understand. He had to. This time the Pokémon didn't even look back at his trainer, he just nodded in response. He kept his eyes locked onto the poor Skitty that he could do nothing to help at that moment. He finally forced himself to look away as he continued to follow his Brennan down the long hallway.

They walked growing even more angry and disgusted with what they continued to see in those rooms. It was pretty unbearable at that point. Brennan didn't understand how someone could be so I cruel—so... emotionless to the point they could torture poor, innocent Pokémon. He feared that he would hear Gardevoir cry out in pain—that they would find her being treated just like these other Pokémon. Brennan knew at that point, if it came to it, he WOULD kill somebody with his bare hands. But, once they neared the end of the hallway and Brennan realized there was still no sign of Gardevoir, a small wave of relief ran over him even though he knew it shouldn't have. Just because she wasn't in one of those rooms in particular didn't mean she wasn't in danger.

They didn't realize there was a left turn at the end of the hallway leading to a shorter corridor until they reached the end of the one they had just barely managed to make through. With his back pressed against the wall, Brennan peaked around the corner to see if he could see anything before they attempted to go down it. There was a man standing at the end. He was talking to another man that was hanging halfway out the door. He didn't know what they were talking about though. He wasn't close enough to be able to hear them.

"Shut up and keep moving!" Someone yelled getting Brennan to quickly look back towards where the noise came from. "Shit..." he muttered to himself, panicked once again. He knew if he and Blaziken stayed in the position they were in they would surely get caught. But with the Team Scavenge member standing in the other hallway, they couldn't go that way.

Brennan quickly peaked around the corner again and saw the Team Scavenge member making his way towards where they were. He quickly tried to open the door behind him, but it was locked. They had no where to go. They were trapped. Blaziken saw the panic his trainer was now in, and he wanted to help. Besides, with his built up anger and frustration towards the team, he needed to relieve some of his anger. As the Team Scavenge member rounded the corner, Blaziken nailed him right in the face with a fist, knocking him out cold. Brennan was left somewhat stunned by his Pokémon's actions. He watched as the now unconscious team member hit the ground with a thud.

He quickly shook off being stunned realizing they needed to get moving. "Help me. Quick." He ordered Blaziken as he grabbed one of the downed members legs. Blaziken listened and grabbed the other as they dragged him back into the hallway he had just come from and out of view of whomever was coming.

"Hell! I knew that idiot was useless. Take them to the main lab. I'm sure that's where boss is goin' to want them anyway." The man continued to yell. Brennan could easily tell that this guy was angry.

"Sure thing, Donnie." Another voice said. Brennan figured "Donnie" must have been who was yelling. He slowly peaked around the corner again just as Donnie turned to start making his way down the hallway. The main thing he noticed was him sticking what looked like a pistol in his belt. He moved back before quickly looking at Blaziken. They were in even more trouble now. In another panicked move, Brennan once again grabbed the handle to the closest door to him and twisted it hoping that it open. And unlike the previous one, this one did. He didn't have time to celebrate, though. He and Blaziken quickly grabbed ahold of the unconscious Team Scavenge member and dragged him into the room, before closing the door behind them. They made it just in time too, because not long after they closed the door, they heard footsteps pass by.

Brennan took another deep breath before finally turning around to see what was in the room they had just entered. The first thing he noticed was it was a lot larger than the closet they had hid in before. The second thing he noticed was the fact that they weren't alone...

"Hey! Who the hell are you guys!" A man with spikey, frosted hair exclaimed as he hopped out of the chair he had been sitting in. He quickly reached for something on his belt, and knowing what that other guy had, Brennan was sure he knew what it was. Blaziken was quick to leap across the room and grab the guy by his shirt collar, but that didn't stop him from continuing to mess with his belt. Brennan quickly ran over to him and tried to fight whatever he had finally been able to get out of his hands. It wasn't hard to do, but it only got worse when he realized it was just a walkie-talkie. "Help! Help!" The man started yelling.

"Shut up!" Brennan quietly exclaimed, but the man refused. That's when Blaziken used all of his force to slam the man backwards into the wall, knocking him out cold. The man fell limp in his arms. Brennan looked at his Pokémon wanting to thank him for the quick thinking, but he didn't have a chance to.

"If either one of you move, I will blow your head off of your shoulders." A cold, serious voice said from behind, causing both Brennan and Blaziken to freeze. "Drop him." The voice ordered. Blaziken listened, and let the unconscious Team Scavenge member slide down the wall and back into the dirty old blue chair he had been sitting in. The owner of the voice looked down at his feet taking notice of the first Team Scavenge member that felt Blaziken's wrath. He huffed. "Figures," he said to himself, clearly unamused by the fact that "idiot", as he referred to him earlier, was dumb enough to let his guard down and be taken out.

Brennan and Blaziken were now with their backs against the wall. There was nothing neither one of them could do. Not with a gun pointed at them. But even with a gun pointed at him, Brennan still couldn't stop thinking about Gardevoir. He had really just messed this up. He made a dumb mistake and gotten them caught for it. And now not only was Blaziken going to have to pay for his mistake, but Gardevoir was too.

"What's going on in here?" Another voice asked, getting the man with the gun to look back towards the door. Standing in the doorway was none other than Gavin.

"Was on my way to find you, sir. Caught a group snooping around outside. Then I found these two. Must've broken in." The man with the gun said. Gavin looked at him, before looking down towards the knocked out Team Scavenge member on the floor.

"Ah. I see the two of you have taken it upon yourselves to not only break in to my headquarters, but to also take out my men. How very... rude of you to do." Gavin spoke. His tone was very... chilling, and intimidating. "I want to know why the two of you felt the need to be so... intrusive, and pull me away from the meeting I was currently having?" He questioned. His voice still sounded somewhat calm. It just made things even more unnerving for Brennan and Blaziken.

"You kidnapped my Pokémon, and I want her back." Brennan answered without hesitation. They were busted. He really didn't feel like there was any reason to hide why they were actually there. His answer immediately made a small smirk form on Gavin's face.

"We did now, aye? I don't recall any ''kidnappings'' taking place recently." He said. This caused Brennan to angrily turn around to face the man, ignoring the fact that he still had a gun pointed at him.

"Hey, asshole! I told you not to move!" Donnie yelled stepping towards Brennan with his finger ready to pull the trigger.

"No, no. It's fine, Donnie. He's smart enough not to try something dumb. At least... I hope he is." Gavin said, not looking the least bit worried by Brennan's very obvious anger. Donnie glanced back at Gavin, but didn't hold eye contact too long before focusing back on Brennan. Brennan didn't even acknowledge Donnie, his eyes were one-hundred percent locked on Gavin, who looked just as relaxed as ever.

"I don't know what kind of games you guys are playing, but I want MY Pokémon back. I know she's here. Once I have her, we'll be on our way and you'll never have to see us again." Brennan said. Blaziken turned around and looked at his trainer. He knew he was serious about what he just said. The only thing Blaziken could think about was all of those Pokémon that were trapped. They were just supposed to leave them and act like they didn't see what they did? Gavin's amuses expression remained on his face. He clearly wasn't taking anything Brennan said seriously.

"Well, I apologize kid. I haven't seen your Pokémon. But if I do, I'll be sure to let... her know you stopped by." He scoffed. This angered Brennan. He balled his fists as his frustrations grew. Blaziken glanced down and noticed this. He looked back towards Gavin growing annoyed himself by the mocking smirk that had remained on his face. He knew Brennan was frustrated and angry, and he knew he was only growing more frustrated and angry. He also knew that it would eventually get to a point where he would do something stupid that would ultimately get one, or both of them killed. Blaziken sighed mentally knowing that something was going to end up happening regardless. It was a dangerous situation they were currently, and his top priority at this particular moment was making sure Brennan got out of it alive. So in a very risky and on the spot move, Blaziken decided to try something—something that may, or may not get him killed. It was risky, but it was a risk he had to take for his trainer.

He noticed that Donnie had taken a very more short steps towards Brennan. This left him just close enough for him to wing it. In a quick move that none of the three humans expected, Blaziken quickly shot forward and landed a hard Flame Punch right on Donnie's right hand. "AH!" He cried out at the now burning pain in his hand. The gun was sent flying off to the side, where he accidentally pulled the trigger. Thankfully the bullet was too far off to the side to hit Brennan. The move left him stunned long enough for Blaziken to kick him in the gut as hard as he could, sending him crashing backwards into the stone wall. He dropped the gun on his way down to the floor, and it slid a few feet away from him. Brennan immediately took advantage of the distraction, charging towards Gavin and knocking him out of the way. Blaziken followed suit and the two took off back into the hallway and in the direction they had originally come from. Their cover had been blown. They weren't even trying to be quiet about it anymore, their loud foot steps as they raced across the old rock ground proved that.

Gavin's amused smile had finally been wiped off of his face. It was now replaced with one of pure anger. He was angry, but he also knew Brennan and Blaziken weren't going to make it far. The gunshot was sure to have been heard around the headquarters. They just set themselves up, and he knew it. He pushed himself back to his feet and looked over at Donnie, who was angrily trying to shake the pain out of his hand.

"Go make sure those two make it to the rest of them. There's something I have to go get." He said. Donnie looked at him, before reaching for his gun and climbing back to his feet. As he went to walk past Gavin, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't kill them. I have something else planned for them." He continued. Gavin wasn't happy with the orders he had just been given. There was nothing he wanted more at that moment than to put both Brennan and Blaziken down. But regardless of whether he wanted to do it, or not, he nodded in response to the orders he had been given, before continuing his way out of the room. Gavin watched him disappear back into the hall way, before his amused smirk returned to his face.

•••

•••

•••

Gardevoir had heard the loud gunshot from down the hall. It had scared the heck out of her. The sudden sound of the loud pop made her stomach drop—it made her feel sick. She could feel Brennan—feel that he was in trouble. She was scared. Scared that something had happened to him. She had jumped off of the bed and rushed to the door, trying to pry it open, but it wouldn't budge. It had obviously been locked from the outside. And with the shock collar on, her powers were useless to her. She continued to violently jerk at the handle hoping that just by luck the door would open. But even as her frustrations grew, the door stayed locked.

She needed to get out of that room and see what had happened. She needed to find Brennan, wherever he was, and see if he was okay. But she couldn't... and that caused her frustrations to grow further. Tears started swelling up in her eyes as she began beating on the door. Her pounding continued until she felt a painful shock run through her once again. She let out a loud cry in pain as she stumbled back away from the door and collapsed to her knees. The pain lasted about ten seconds before stopping. Once it did, she dropped her hands down flat on the floor to keep herself propped up. She began panting heavily to once again catch her breath. As she did, the door to the room opened, and a very disappointed Gavin walked in shaking his head.

"It sounded like someone was having a tantrum. We can't have that." Gavin spoke. Gardevoir forced herself to glare up at him as he did. "Now, it's time for you to cooperate with me, Gardevoir," he said as he reached down on his belt for something. It was a Poké Ball. The same Poké Ball that Simon and Nelson had used to trap her to begin with. Gavin's smirk grew at the reaction she gave to once again seeing her new Poké Ball. She pushed herself upwards and tried to crawl backwards away from Gavin. He slowly shook his head. "Uh, Uh, uh. You aren't going anywhere." He said as he held out the ball towards her. "Gardevoir, return..." he called as he pressed the small button in the center of the ball down. It opened, and a flash of red light filled the room, sucking Gardevoir into the ball. It closed with a click, and Gavin stared at it with a sinister smirk. He let out a dark chuckle, before exiting the room.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan and Blaziken were racing through Team Scavenge's hideout, with Scavenge members hot on their tails. They already knew that there was no way that gunshot didn't get heard. They were busted, and they knew it. Brennan knew now they had to avoid getting caught long enough for them to find Gardevoir. Because he already knew he wasn't leaving that hideout without her.

They made a quick, sharp turn down another hallway, but were met with even more Team Scavenge members. Not wanting to slow down, with more quick thinking, Blaziken blaster through them with a Flame Charge. That cleared their path. But even though their path had been cleared, they had trapped themselves in a dead end situation. At the end of the long hallway they were currently running down was a large set of grey steel doors. Brennan looked back over his shoulder and saw a slew of Team Scavenge members closing in on them. He thought that the door being unlocked was going to be their only hope at a saving grace. He was wrong.

As they reached the door, Brennan grabbed one of the handles and ripped it open. His moment of relief that the door was unlocked didn't last long, however. As they raced into the room and closed the door behind them, they were met with eyes, and tons of them. They turned and looked around the room only to realize they had just entered a room full of alerted Team Scavenge members. They put their hands up in surrender as they were surrounded with guns. Brennan shook his head full of disappointment that he had just led himself and Blaziken into this, and that he had let Gardevoir down.

"Brennan...?" A familiar voice said getting Brennan to look in the direction it had come from. That's when he saw his friends and his Pokémon on their knees with guns pointed at them.

"Luna..." Brennan replied both upset and shocked that they had been caught. He left them so that wouldn't happen. They followed him, and were caught for it. Blaziken's eyes had immediately landed on Delphox, who was relieved to see that he was okay.

Brennan was roughly grabbed by his shirt as he was dragged over to the others. "Get in line, asshole." Nelson said as he shoved Brennan towards the others. Blaziken was forced to follow behind him. Once they reached the others, Brennan's knee was chopped out from underneath him, sending him crumbling to the ground. Blaziken was ready to attack in defense of his trainer, but didn't get a chance to as he felt a gun press into his back.

"Don't even think about it." The guard who was hold him said. "Now get on your knees." He continued sounding just as angry as the other Team Scavenge members were. Blaziken flares ahead as he continued to stand there. He was furious about this. He looked down at Brennan, who glanced up at him. He didn't say anything, but it was clear to Blaziken what his trainer wanted him to do. He wanted him to listen. He wasn't happy about it, but Blaziken did finally join his friends on his knees.

Brennan glanced around the room immediately taking notice of the all of the large machines and monitors that inhabited it. The monitors were covered with all sorts of grids and lists and pictures... pictures of Pokémon who had been experimented on. They had been running tests... and... they were horrible to look at. Brennan shook his head and looked down in disgust. Seeing the same things Brennan did angered Blaziken further. It physically pained him to see stuff like that.

"What are you guys doing here?" Brennan finally asked as he looked over at the others.

"To help you. You left us, and we couldn't just-" Luna was replying before being cut off.

"Shut up! No one said you could talk." Nelson said, interrupting Luna before she could finish her response. Lane was more displeased with the way these guys were talking to his girlfriend, than the fact that he had a gun pointed at his back. Luna and Brennan held a silent eye contact for several seconds before finally looking away. The silence remained between the optionless group for a good few minutes before the large steel doors finally opened again. Donnie walked in first, immediately throwing a very hate filled glare towards Brennan and Blaziken. Following him were a few nameless Scavenge grunts, before, finally, the leader himself walked in, Gavin.

Gavin walked past the group of Scavenge members that had accompanied him into the room, as he made his way towards Brennan's group. His amused smirk stayed on his face as he stared each and every one of them down. "Wow. When I was told there were a few nosy intruders, I wasn't expecting THIS many." He spoke. His eyes finally landed on the very, VERY nervous Frankie as he finished. "Oh, hoho. Are my eyes deceiving me, or is that Frankie?" He said curiously as he walked towards him. This immediately got Brennan and the rest of his group to look towards the previously mentioned man. "Long time no see, Frankie. Last time I saw you was the day you left the Team. How has that decision been working out for you?" He asked. Frankie shook his head, trying to avoid eye contact as he prompted to remain silent.

"Frankie... what is he talking about?" Lane asked, ignoring the fact that they were told not to speak. Frankie didn't even look his way, he just continued to avoid making any sort of eye contact with anyone.

"Frankie! What is he talking about?!" Lane asked even louder this time. Gavin seemed amused by this.

"Oh, I suppose your friend has left you in the dark about his past. Quite unfortunate." He said. Everyone's eyes stayed locked on Frankie. They all wanted to know what Gavin was talking about. He let out a chuckle before continuing. "Since it seems he doesn't plan on bringing you up to speed, I will. Frankie here used to be a member of Team Scavenge. He was a good one, too. He brought in a hefty amount of wild Pokémon. He had so much potential. But for some reason he decided to let all of that go. I will never understand why."

Everyone was shocked at the explanation they were just given. None of them knew Frankie had been part of these monsters at one point. "You—you were one of them?!" Lane exclaimed. He couldn't believe that someone he had called a friend would be apart of something so... awful. Frankie shook his head.

"It's not like that," he finally spoke. "They didn't tell me what they were really using Pokémon for. I thought I was bringing them to some sort of haven where they didn't have to worry about going hungry. I was wrong. I left as soon as I found out what they were up to. All of those Pokémon that I brought here... I'm going to have to live with that. I'm... sorry." His own explanation left his group speechless. He dropped his head down, shaking it in disappointment as he finished. None of them knew what to say about any of the things they had just found out. Gavin let out another chuckle as he walked away from the group.

"No need to apologize, Frankie. You did an excellent job. I just wish you would have stuck around longer. You would have made my search MUCH easier." He spoke as he pulled a Poké Ball off of his belt. He turned to face the group again, as he stared at the ball in his hand. "So... much... easier." He pressed the center button on the ball and a bright flash lit the room as Gardevoir appeared from the ball.

"Gardevoir!" Brennan exclaimed as he tried to get back on his feet to rush over to her. He didn't even make it halfway up before a hand forced him back down.

"Gardevoir!" Gardevoir exclaimed as she tried to do the same. Gavin smirked as she began to rush towards Brennan. She didn't make it far before another painful shock ran through her body. She cried out in pain as she dropped to the floor. Brennan, and the others watched on in horror. The shock lasted ten seconds before Gavin finally released the button. Gardevoir weakly tried to push herself back up to her feet as the shocking pain ceased.

"You don't run off on your trainer like that, Gardevoir." Gavin said as he walked over to the downed Pokémon. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to her back up, before dragging her back to where they had been standing. "I can honestly say that this test shock collar has been amazing. I think it's time to get more of them into production." He announced proudly as he looked back at the Team Scavenge member that designed the test collar. Brennan shook his head. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Gardevoir since she had been released from the ball. She hadn't taken her pained eyes off of him either.

"L-let her go." Brennan ordered, getting Gavin to look back in his direction again. He let out another chuckle.

"Why would I let my best Pokémon go? Especially after how long it took me to catch her." He replied. Brennan shook his head.

"She isn't _your_ Pokémon." He said. Gavin lifted up the Poké Ball she had been released from, showing it to Brennan.

"This Poké Ball says otherwise, kid." He spoke. This angered Brennan.

"I don't care about that Poké Ball! She was with me! Your people attacked us and kidnapped her! She's not your Pokémon!" Brennan yelled. Gavin's smirk remained. Brennan's anger was hilarious to him.

"Wrong. My men didn't kidnap her, they brought her home... where she belongs." He said. This confused them. Gardevoir especially. She had no clue what he was talking about. "I've been searching for her for years, and years, and years, and I've finally found her. You see, my sweet Gardevoir was taken from me soon after she was born. Her mother... she took her and ran just to spite me. Everything was going fine, and then she overheard something she wasn't supposed to. I've searched for her every day since then, hoping that I would eventually be reunited with her—to finally get to meet her. To finally get to meet... my daughter." He said. His crooked smirk became more sinister as he finished. Everyone, especially Gardevoir, was left in shock. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to believe that this man was her father. It was impossible.

"You're—you're lying. You have to be." Brennan said in disbelief. Gavin shook his head.

"I'm not. Gardevoir's mother and I... we were in love. When I found out she was pregnant—it was one of the happiest moments of my life. Not only because I would be getting a daughter, but because I would finally be taking the first step in human-Pokémon evolution. My human genes combined with her Pokémon ones, I would finally have the answer I've been wanting for so long to get: can Pokémon and humans mate? The answer... yes. Yes they can." He explained.

"Y-you... and a Pokémon? That's-that's...sick!" Luna exclaimed. Gavin huffed.

"Sick? It was love, and science." He replied.

"That wasn't love! You used Gardevoir's mother for your own selfish wants! I'm glad she got away from you!" Luna exclaimed. Gavin chuckled.

"That's where you're wrong. She may have managed to hide my daughter from me, but she didn't get away. We found her, and she paid for the wrong she did. It hurt me to do it, but it had to be done." He said. Gardevoir looked up at the man as tears swelled up in her eyes. Her mom...saved her, but got caught and killed because of it?

"That poor Gardevoir..." Luna said as more tears ran down her cheeks.

"She got what she deserved. She had no right to keep my daughter from me." Gavin said.

"No! You had no right to do all of the horrible things you've done! You're sick!" Luna exclaimed. Gavin chuckled.

"I don't appreciate the insults." He said before looking back towards Simon and Zoroark. Zoroark nodded, before charging towards the group. He hit Delphox with Punishment so hard that she flew backwards, and smacked into the back wall, creating a crater. She hung in the wall for several seconds, before dropping down hard to the floor.

"Delphox!" Luna cried out. She tried to get up to go over to her, but was forced back to her knees just like Brennan had been. Blaziken was so angry his left eye started twitching. He stared back at the downed Delphox, before glancing over at Zoroark, who had a proud smirk on his face. Gavin let out another chuckle.

"I told you, dear. I don't appreciate being insulted." He spoke.

"G-Gardevoir." Gardevoir said as she fought out of Gavin's grasp. He shook his head at this.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Disobeying your trainer will not do, Gardevoir." He said before pressing the button on the remote in his hand. Another painful shock was sent coursing through Gardevoir's body. She let another loud cry as she once again dropped to the ground. The only thing the others could do was watch. Tears ran down Luna's cheeks as she listened to Gardevoir's cries. She couldn't bare to look at her.

"STOP! You're hurting her!" Brennan cried out as he once again tried to get to his feet. But like before, he was immediately forced back to his knees. Gavin didn't listen, he kept his finger on the button. Gardevoir's cries continued. She was on the floor taking in strong charges of electricity.

"G-GARDE...VOIRRRRRR!" She cried out in pain. He laughed as he watched the life being drained out of Gardevoir.

"Are you going to start behaving, Gardevoir?! Huh?!" Gavin exclaimed.

"V-V-VOIRRRRRR!" Her cries continued. Brennan couldn't take watching his. Tears of anger, frustration, and sadness ran down his face as Gardevoir's cries filled the room. Blaziken stared at Gardevoir, watching as she was being tortured, before looking over at his trainer, who was in tears. He then looked down the line to the others who were all just as upset by this as Brennan was. The last thing he looked towards was Delphox, who remained motionless on the floor. That was it, he couldn't take it anymore. Everything he was witnessing right now, mixed with all of the horrible things he had already seen these people do—his anger finally took over. His blood was boiling. His hatred for these people took over.

A bright flash of gold lit up the room. This surprised everyone. It was so bright that everyone had to look away. Blaziken let out a loud angered yell before bursting out of the light, taking out the Team Scavenge member that currently held a gun to him. As the light faded, and everyone was left off guard, the now Mega Blaziken grabbed the next two closest members by the arms and threw them across the room taking out a larger number of grunts. Brennan was left shocked by this. It took several seconds for him to even notice that the stone in his bracelet was glowing once again.

"Take him out!" Gavin yelled, motioning for more grunts to attack. But Mega Blaziken, his anger, his quickness, it was too much. He was sending grunts flying every direction. Brennan had shaken off the surprise and jumped to his feet charging over to Gavin. He didn't notice Brennan until it was too late. Brennan tackled him to the ground, causing him to drop the remote to the shock collar, before immediately introducing his fist to his face. Brennan's Pokémon had taken to helping Blaziken lay out grunts and Scavenge Pokémon, while Luna, Lane, and Frankie went over to Delphox.

"I'm going to kill you!" Brennan yelled in anger as he drilled another fist into Gavin's face. He went to throw another fist but didn't get to before Simon came running up from the side, knocking him off of his boss. Brennan went to climb back to his feet, but Simon delivered a hard kick to his ribs stopping him from doing so. Nelson ran up and pulled Gavin up to his feet, and they headed for a door on the opposite side of the room. As they went for their escape, Blaziken's rampage grew worse. He started blasting fire, throwing repeated kicked, and throwing hard hits to anyone and anything that he could get to.

The mistake here was when he blasted one of the computer stations with his flames. This caused a pretty big explosion that shook the ground they were all standing on. Large chunks of rock from the ceiling started falling soon after. But that still didn't stop Blaziken.

Brennan had managed to push himself back up, before rushing over to Gardevoir, who still remained on the floor.

"G-Gardevoir. H-hey, Gardevoir," he spoke as he helped her sit up.

"G-Gardevoir..." she spoke weakly, before throwing her arms around him. Brennan wrapped his around her, holding her tight. Gardevoir may have been in pain, but the feeling of being back in Brennan's arms made everything better. The two held on to each other, ignoring everything that was going on around them. The beams and large chunks of rock raining down from the ceiling, the flames being shot around the room, the screaming, the grunts being thrown around... it was all being ignored.

"Brennan! Hey, Brennan!" A voice finally got Brennan's attention. He looked over and saw Lane. "We have to go!" He exclaimed. Brennan nodded, before looking back at Gardevoir. He stood up with her still in his arms. He looked around for his other Pokémon as Luna and Frankie ran up. Luna had returned Delphox to her Poké Ball, and now held onto it tightly in her hand.

"You guys have to get out of here." Lane said as he looked at them.

"We aren't going anywhere without you guys." Luna argued. Lane shook his head.

"Please! Luna! Now isn't the time to argue! We have to get Brennan's Pokémon! We'll be right behind you, I promise!" He exclaimed. Luna didn't want to leave them. But she knew Lane was right, it wasn't the time to argue. She eventually nodded in agreement, which Lane was thankful for. They were getting ready to run for the exit when Brennan stopped them.

"Take Gardevoir with you, please?" Brennan said curiously. This got Gardevoir to look at him.

"G-Gardevoir." She said as she shook her head. She just got Brennan back, she didn't want to lose him again.

"I'll be okay. I want you to get out of here with them. I'll be behind you." He assured her. She didn't want to do it, but just like Luna, she agreed to it to avoid any arguments. Brennan smiled at her and hugged her, before letting her lean on to Luna so they could get out of there.

"Make it quick, okay?" Luna said as they began racing towards the exit.

"We will." Lane replied, before looking back at Brennan. "Now we have to gather your Pokémon." He said. Brennan nodded before doing what he figured would get them out of there the quickest.

"Machamp! Mightyena! Sandslash! Roserade! Blaziken! We have to go!" Brennan yelled out to get his Pokémons' attention. Four of the five were quick to gather. Blaziken being the exception. He returned them all to their Poké Balls so he didn't have to worry about losing them again. As they ran to try and get Blaziken, a large beam broke off of the ceiling and fell, almost crushing them in the process. They were lucky in managing to avoid it. Another loud explosion happened that caused even more rock to start collapsing.

"Brennan! We have to get out of here!" Lane exclaimed realizing their window to escape was running out. Brennan shook his head.

"I'm not leaving with Blaziken!" He replied before looking back in Blaziken's direction.

"Blaziken! Blaziken, we have to go!" Brennan yelled, but his Pokémon continued his angry assault on whatever Team Scavenge members he could get his hands on. All's he could see was red. His anger had fully taken over. "BLAZIKEN!" He yelled again, but his Pokémon continued his wave of Scavenge destruction.

"Brennan! Come on! We have to go, NOW!" Lane exclaimed as he grabbed Brennan's shirt and started pulling him towards the exit. Brennan shook his head.

"Blaziken! BLAZIKEN!" He yelled as loud as he could, hoping to get his Pokémon's attention. But he didn't. "Stop! I'm not leaving without him!" He yelled as he fought away from Lane. Lane grabbed his shirt and turned him to face him.

"Brennan! We have to go! If we don't go now, we WILL die! We have to go!" Lane exclaimed, trying to get it through Brennan's head. Brennan only stared at him for a few seconds before looking back in Blaziken's direction.

"BLAZIKEN!" Brennan yelled again. Lane once again grabbed ahold of his shirt and started dragging him towards the door. Brennan tried to fight away again, but Lane wasn't going to let him go this time. "BLAZIKEN!" He yelled again as he was pulled out the doors. He stared at Blaziken until the wall finally blocked his view and his best friend disappointed from his line of sight.

Lane dragged him back through the hallway as the hideout shook. More chunks of rock started breaking off of the ceiling, crushing the ground underneath them. The two ran through the hallway as the lights began flashing. Another explosion could be heard from behind them, this caused the ground to shake once again. The two ran as fast as they could until they finally made it to the large front doors of the hideout and burst through them. Frankie, Luna, and Gardevoir stood in the distance waiting for them. It didn't take them long to reach the others. And as soon as they did, there was a loud crashing behind them. They turned as chunks of the mountain started caving in.

"BLAZIKENNNN!" Brennan yelled with tears pouring out of his eyes as he watched a large chunk of the top of the mountain cave in on itself, surrounding the area in a large dirt cloud.

Luna, Lane, Frankie, and Gardevoir stood around staring at the dirt cloud in shock. Luna covered her mouth with her hands after witnessing what she just did. They all shielded their eyes as the large cloud engulfed them. Brennan dropped down to his hands and knees and cried as his emotions took over. As the dust settled, the others were left staring at the mess that was once Team Scavenge's hideout. The large chunks that once sat on top of the mountain, were now nothing but crumbled chunks taking over the mountains own insides. Brennan noticing the light from the stone on his bracelet going out just made him cry even harder.

Gardevoir stumbled over to him before getting down on her knees next to him, resting her hands on his back for some sort of comfort, even though she knew she wasn't going to be able to do much. But she was going to try to do what she could.

Silence filled the air. The only thing that could be heard now was Brennan's crying. The result of his heart breaking... the result of him losing his best friend.


	23. Chapter 23

(*Tick*...*Tick*...*Tick*...*Tick*)

The only noise being made in the otherwise silent waiting room of the Pokémon Center was the ticking of the old wall clock near the front desk. Brennan and Luna sat in silence just like they had been doing for close to three hours now. Brennan sat staring down at the white tiled floors, his red eyes showing signs of him crying himself out. He still didn't know what to make of what had happened. Luna was worried. She had discretely glanced over at Brennan several times already, wanting to say something to him. But she didn't. She didn't know what to say. She knew there was nothing she could say to make anything better.

It didn't take long for police, fire trucks, and ambulances to show up after the collapse of Team Scavenge's hideout. No one was quite sure how they were able to get there so quickly, or how they even found out what had happened, but they did. Regardless, they were lucky they got there when they did. Gardevoir had been trying to be some sort of comfort to Brennan when she collapsed into the dirt. She ended up falling unconscious, which is the main reason they were even at the Pokémon Center right now. The police wanted to question them about what happened, but Lane had managed to convince the officers to let he and Frankie go with them so Brennan and Luna could go to the Pokémon Center. They agreed, but they're still going to have to answer the officers questions eventually, but that was something neither one of them were even remotely concerned about at the moment.

The ambulance ride to the Pokémon Center was a hard one. Luna had to sit and watch, helplessly, as the man who had been like a brother to her fell apart in front of her. Losing Blaziken, and now Gardevoir is in the state she's in after everything he went through to get her back. And all of this was Team Scavenge's fault.

Brennan had been staring down at the floor since the minute he sat down. The events of what had happened just a mere few hours ago kept repeating themselves over and over again in his head. It all happened so quickly. It was still hard to even process everything. He didn't know how to. He had honestly never felt so broken—so defeated before. They were sitting there waiting for someone to come out there and let them know anything about Gardevoir. They were told when they brought her in that she looked to be in really bad shape. Hearing that put Brennan even further on the edge than he already was.

"Mr. Fischer?" A soft voice spoke, finally breaking the silence that had previously taken over the room. Brennan's head shot up as his attention was finally shifted from the tiled floor, to the nurse that had approached them.

"Gardevoir... is she okay?" Brennan asked, speaking for the first time in hours, as he hopped to his feet, clutching his ribs as he did. His voice was a bit scratchy from the crying and continued silence, but he didn't even notice. The nurse's soft expression turned somewhat somber with his question.

"We were able to remove the collar from around her neck. After having a local professor dissect it, he was able to determine that Gardevoir was taking in shocks the equivalent to being electrocuted by four Pikachu's at once. And after the numerous amounts of shocks she sustained, she shouldn't even be here right now." She explained. Brennan felt like his already broken heart just sank into the bottom of his stomach. "However, she is a fighter," that made him slightly relax. "She is in comatose state right now, and if she wakes up, she may not be able to battle again. But I would still take that as a victory. It would be a victory in itself." As she finished, Brennan looked down towards the floor as more tears started to fight their way out of his eyes. 'A comatose state...?', that wasn't good. He closed his eyes tight and slowly began to shake his head as the fear of her never waking up forced its way into his head.

"Brennan..." Luna spoke softly as she placed a comforting hand on his back.

"C-can I... can I see her?" Brennan asked quietly, looking back up at the nurse. Luna could hear how choked up he was. He was trying to keep himself from breaking down again is what it boiled down to. The nurse gave him a single nod.

"Of course." She replied softly, and sympathetically. She motioned Brennan and Luna to follow her as she led them to Gardevoir's room. They made their way through the large dark blue doors to the patient rooms. They followed the nurse down the hallway, only stopping once they reached the door that led to Gardevoir's room. The nurse stepped out of the way, deciding not to say anything as she did. Brennan stared down at the silver handle for several seconds, before finally turning it. He slowly pushed the door open, peaking into the room as he did. Gardevoir lay motionless on the bed in the middle of the small room. Brennan's lip began to tremble as he felt himself ready to break down again. Seeing Gardevoir laying there like that with an IV in her arm and the beeping of a heart monitor being the only noise in the otherwise silent room broke him even more than he already was.

"G-Gardevoir...?" He muttered sadly, as he slowly crept towards the bed. Luna stayed in the doorway watching. A few tears of her own escaped as she watched the pained Brennan make his way to the motionless Gardevoir. It hurt her even more seeing where they were now compared to where they were and how happy everyone was just a few days ago.

Brennan finally reached the side of the bed, after having to pause for a few seconds to regain himself. Gardevoir still lay unmoving. He opened his mouth to speak again, but no words came out. At least not at first. "G-Gardevoir, I-I... I'm sorry." His apology was almost a whisper it was so soft.

Luna gave Brennan a few seconds before joining him at the bed. She stared down at Gardevoir in silence. Seeing her like that brought more tears to her eyes. She eventually moved her hand up to Brennan's back and slowly began rubbing it. "She's going to make it. Don't worry." She spoke softly. Brennan didn't remove his eyes from Gardevoir, nor did he respond.

"Um... I'm sorry to interrupt, but Ms. Lovings, Delphox is awake if you'd like to see her." The same nurse spoke softly as she approached the pair. Luna was happy her Pokémon was awake, but at the same time, a somber feeling quickly hit her realizing she had to be the one to tell her about Blaziken.

"T-thank you. I'm going to stay with him a few more-" Luna began, before being interrupted before she could finish.

"-No. It's okay. Go. She's probably confused to what's going on. Go be with her so she's not alone." Brennan said. Luna stared over at him for several seconds before finally agreeing.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Luna said. Brennan gave her a single nod.

"Yeah..." he muttered, still not removing his eyes from Gardevoir. Luna gave him another soft pat on the back before finally following the nurse back out of the room, knowing that she was about to have to break her poor Delphox's heart with the news about Blaziken. The loud click of the door closing interrupted the beeping for a moment, but just a moment. The beeping returned as Brennan was left alone with Gardevoir. The longer he stared at her the more it broke his heart.

His eyes remained locked on her face for several more seconds before he closed them. Another tear managing to escape before he did. He stood there eyes closed for he didn't know how long. The loud cry of an upset Pokémon eventually made him reopen them. He already knew who the Pokémon was. Hearing her cry made his lips begin to quiver, as his own sobs once again pick back up. He placed his hands on the railing on the side of the bed to keep himself on his feet as he closed his eyes back and once again began crying.

He felt defeated. He tried so hard to accomplish one thing, but ended up failing another. If he would have just stayed in bed that day none of this would have happened. Because of him everyone else was suffering. Lane and Frankie we're currently being questioned by the police, Luna was having to tear her already beaten Delphox's heart in half, Gardevoir was in a coma, and Blaziken... Blaziken sacrificed himself to get everyone out of the mess Brennan got them all in. Then the realization hit Brennan that he was going to have to break the news to the rest of his Pokémon...

This whole situation was the worst thing that Brennan had ever been involved in.

He breathed out a heavy, pain-filled sigh before reopening his eyes. He shook his head before turning and grabbing the green padded chair that rested up against the wall not too far from Gardevoir's bed. He pulled it closer to the bed— his wobbly legs and pain-filled ribs forcing him to sit down in it once it was close enough. If he would have waited any longer to grab it he would have been sitting in the floor at that moment.

He sat there, still. Full of pain, anguish, and sadness, just watching Gardevoir. Hoping for even the slightest bit of movement. But... nothing. She remained unmoving.

Brennan fully believed that she would wake up. She had to. She is strong. She's a fighter. She wouldn't let this keep her down. She couldn't. He also knew that when she did wake up, he was going to be there. No matter how long it took, he wasn't leaving her side. He was going to be there for her like she would him if the roles were reversed. A week, a month, a year— it didn't matter. He would wait for her. Knowing that seeing her open her big beautiful eyes and flash him his favorite smile in the world once again would be well worth the wait.

He couldn't wait to see them again.

•••

•••

•••

It was black. So black she couldn't see anything. Her eyes slowly began to open, slightly flickering as they did. She didn't know where she was at. She pushed herself into a sitting position as she looked around in the dark.

"Gardevoir!" She cried out as she quickly climbed to a standing position. Nothing. It was silent. So, so silent. She would have been able to hear a pin drop.

"No one can hear you." A deep, unfamiliar voice spoke. She frantically looked around for the owner but continued to see nothing but the blackness. "It is just you and I in here Gardevoir. No one else." This got the Pokémon's search to grow even more frantic. But again, she saw nothing.

"Gardevoir!" She yelled before rushing off into a random direction, trying to get away from the loud, mysterious voice. She glided away as fast as she could. But no matter how fast she was going, or how far she thought she had gone, it didn't seem like she was making any progress. Everything that surrounded her was a seemingly never ending black void. A black void that she didn't know if she was going to be able to escape from. Once that realization hit her, she stopped. Stopped and looked around once more. Everything had remained the same. She dropped back down to her knees staring down at the blackness of the ground below her.

"As I said, it is just you and I in here Gardevoir." The mysterious voice spoke once again. Gardevoir remained staring at the ground, doing her best to just ignore it. But she couldn't. She knew with whatever emptiness she was currently in, she wouldn't be able to ignore it.

"Gardevoir?" She asked in an almost inaudible tone. She wanted to know where she was. She didn't know if the owner of the voice would understand her, but-

"We're inside your head." It responded. This caused Gardevoir to quickly look up. She was pretty surprised that the voice even understood her. "Your energy, it was drained by the color. You're in a coma." Gardevoir shook her head as tears swelled in her eyes. She had heard of being in "a coma" before from a tv Show she had watched with Brennan.

Brennan...

She NEEDED to get out of there. She quickly jumped back up once again in a panic.

"Gardevoir! Gardevoir! Gard-e-voir!" She exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Gardevoir, but there is only a very slim chance that you'll wake from your coma. Brennan may just have to move on." The voice spoke. Gardevoir shook her head again, refusing to take that as an answer.

"VOIR!" She yelled angrily. She wasn't about to give up. To lose everything she had waited so long to get. To... not see Brennan again. She refused. "Gardevoir. Gardevoir?!" Her question rang into the abyss for several seconds before the voice spoke once again.

"You're weak. Beaten. Lacking energy. Your body... it's suffered—taken more damage than it should have. Determination. That's what you need. Determination to wake up. To see your friends again. I feel your want... but I don't think you can." This response, it gave Gardevoir hope. It's what she needed to hear. Regardless of what this mysterious voice said, she was determined. She was going to fight her way out of this coma she was in. She was going to see Brennan again.

She stood still. Eyes closed, focusing. Focusing on seeing Brennan again. Focusing on being in his arms. Focusing on being with him. Focusing on the future they could have together. She needed it. She needed him.

"Try, try, try all you want. You will fail." The voice spoke, sounding less supportive than it already did. Gardevoir once again ignored it as she tried to focus harder. No matter what the voice said she wasn't going to give up.

*BEEP*

A faint beep slightly startled the Pokémon. She didn't know what it was, or where it had come from, but she knew it must have been a good thing to hear.

*BEEP*

Another beep was heard. Still faint; but louder than the last. She threw all of her determination into ignoring the nothingness around her. Focusing on what she wanted: a future with Brennan in it.

*BEEP* *BEEP*

The beeps were becoming more constant and loud now. But she still didn't know what they were.

"G-*inaudible*-ir." Her eyes almost shot open as she heard the very soft, and very faint voice. It wasn't the voice that she had been talking to. No. This one was... different. "I-I'm *inaudible*-rry." The voice was still faint. But it was more clear now. And it was a voice she recognized.

It was... Brennan.

Another tear formed in her eye as she heard his voice again. She was doing it. She was actually doing it! She couldn't believe it.

"Impressive. Now it's time to see if you can actually go all the way with it. Are you strong enough?" The voice asked.

"VOIR!" Gardevoir yelled out, trying to keep herself focused as she did.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

"I can't *inaudible* -ose you t-*inaudible*." It was Brennan again. His voice was clearer than before, but she still wasn't getting everything he was saying.

And then she felt her hand being grabbed even though she knew no one was there to grab it. But it felt so real.

Her mind was focused. She was almost there. She could feel it. She was about to be with Brennan again, and she wasn't going to stop until she was.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan had now been sitting in Gardevoir's room for several hours. He had refused to leave her side for any reason. Luna had taken Delphox home awhile ago. She had accepted Brennan's refuse to leave Gardevoir, but didn't want him to starve. After her heartbroken Pokémon fell back asleep, she wanted to try and get away from the pain for a few minutes, so she invited him to come get something to eat with her. He declined. She did end up bringing him something back though. But the food had remained sitting in the white plastic bag on the tray Luna had sat it on. Brennan had been too sick over everything to even think about food. Sure his stomach had shown signs of resistance, but he ignored it.

He lightly shuffled forward in his seat, still not taking his eyes off of Gardevoir. "Gardevoir..." he finally spoke for the first time since Luna left hours before. His voice was quiet. "Gardevoir I'm—I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let this happen to you." Tears once again started swelling in his eyes as he looked towards the floor, shaking his head. "I-I'm so sorry that I got you into this. B-but I need you to please wake up. I-I can't lose—lose both of you in the same day. I just... can't." Tears we're streaming down his cheeks at this point. He couldn't lose both Gardevoir and Blaziken in the same day. He honestly wasn't sure of what he would do if he did.

He gently grabbed ahold of Gardevoir's right hand that had previously been lying on the bed. He gave it a very light squeeze before softly kissing the back of it. "I-I'm sorry." He cried as he rested his forehead against it. Tears dripped off of his face, and down onto it. He had thought he had already cried himself dry, but he was wrong.

He kept his head resting on her hand, not noticing what was happening just above him. Gardevoir's eyes slowly began to open. Very, very slowly. She didn't know where she was, or what was going on. But she did feel her hand being held. She weakly squeezed the other hand back. This caused Brennan's head to lift up off of it. He was confused at first, before finally hearing a low, groan coming from someone that wasn't him. He looked up towards Gardevoir's face and saw her struggling to open her eyes.

He stared at her for several seconds in shock, until their eyes met. That's when he began sobbing again. But this time out wasn't out of sadness; it was out of relief.

"G-Gar-de..." Gardevoir managed to say. Brennan shot up from the chair and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him, whilst also trying to be carful. Brennan's happy sobs continued as he once again held the live Pokémon in his arms. It was weak, but Gardevoir did her best to hug him back. She closed her eyes again taking in the fact that she was once again in his arms.

Almost a minute passed before Brennan pulled away just enough to see her face. A small smile forced its way onto it as their eyes met. As Brennan's tears slowed, his smile grew. He gently rested his forehead against Gardevoir's. They were staring at each other like it was the first time they had seen each other in years.

"I'm never going to let you go again. I promise." Brennan spoke softly before kissing her forehead.

"G-Gardevoir." She replied just as softly. "Please Don't" was her response, and she meant it. Her and Brennan embraced once more, just holding each other. Holding each other as if they let each other go, they'd lose the other. Neither of them ever wanted that again.

They had each other back. And just for a moment, Brennan finally had something to make him happy. He had something to clear his mind of all of the hurt he had already suffered today. But that was just for a moment. A moment that wouldn't last. But for now, he and Gardevoir had each other. That's what they both needed.


	24. Chapter 24

Silence filled the living room. Usually it was by choice because everyone was focused on what was on the tv. But this time... this time it was different. It was a very somber silence. One that no one felt like breaking.

It had been three days since what had happened. And in that three days, words had hardly been spoken between the usually lively group. After Gardevoir was released from the Pokémon center, and they made their way home, that's when Brennan felt it was the best time to let his other Pokémon know what had happened. They were shocked— heartbroken hearing what they did. Brennan was their Trainer, but Blaziken... Blaziken was their leader. They all looked up to him. Literally and figuratively. They always had.

Brennan sat on the floor with his back to the couch with Gardevoir sat next to him leaning into him. Mightyena lay at his side with his head resting in Brennan's lap, taking in the gentle rubs his Trainer was giving him. He kept his fingers running through Mightyena's thick fur as he stared straight ahead at the tv even though his mental focus was in a completely different place. He just couldn't bring himself to sit on the couch. None of them could. It felt... wrong.

Without moving her head, Gardevoir glanced up at him. The pained, sorrow filled expression that took over his face days prior had remained. She could feel his emotions. Feel how sad and defeated he felt. It hurt her. Hurt her knowing that what happened was her fault. Not Brennan's... but hers. She closed her eyes and nuzzled her head deeper into his shoulder. He didn't look over at her like he usually would have, but instead pulled her closer to him with the arm he had wrapped over her shoulders. She was slightly disappointed by not being able to get him to look at her. But she did know why he tightened his hold on her. He had grown more protective of her since what had happened. He had grown that way towards all of his Pokémon. He didn't want to lose anyone else, and she knew that.

His Pokémon had been taking this just as hard as he had. Machamp sat in his chair; two arms resting on the arm rests, the other two crossed over his massive chest. He stared down at his crossed arms, the somber expression on his face matching the one on his Trainer's. Roserade sat hugging her knees to her chest, and her back against the coffee table, staring down at the beige carpet below her. Sandslash sat next to her with his legs spread and his hands resting in the carpet in front of him, just staring ahead at the tv.

As they sat there not focusing on what was on the tv, an "Urgent Breaking News!" Screen popped up. The someone loud breaking news music got everyone's attention.

"We're here at The Hoenn Mountain just outside of Slateport City where just three days ago an explosion caused a portion of the mountain, discovered to be Team Scavenge's Base of Operations, collapsed. Casualties of the incident are still being discovered by Slateport's Police Department, humans and Pokémon alike."

Brennan stared blankly at the tv as the news reporter standing past the police mark off tape welcomed the police chief into camera view.

"This incident is a very unfortunate one that has left a gloomy feeling hovering over our beloved city. Team Scavenge, or not, casualties are not something we enjoy seeing. At this time we're still unclear of what the actual reason was for this explosion. But we do intend on pursuing this case until we have the answers we are searching for." The Police Chief spoke, his voice a very somber one.

"Thank you, Chief Harrison. We will continue to keep you updated as the story-" The news anchor was speaking as Brennan grabbed the remote and shut the tv off. Everyone sat in a continued silence as they stared at the now blank screen.

Without saying a word, Brennan stood up, forcing both Mightyena and Gardevoir out of their resting positions, and walked out of the room. His Pokémon watched him as he disappeared down the hallway, the sound of his bedroom door closing momentarily breaking the silence. They continued to stare down the hallway for several seconds before finally looking away. They knew their trainer was hurting—they were too. Gardevoir looked around at the others waiting to see if any of them were going to do anything. They wanted to, but they knew he just needed time to himself. So they were going to give it to him. It was killing Mightyena to not go and try to comfort his trainer, but if being alone was what he needed at that particular moment, that's what he was going to let him be.

Gardevoir on the other hand wasn't just going to sit there and not do anything. She pushed herself upwards and immediately started gliding towards Brennan's room.

"Machamp." Machamp spoke, causing her to stop and turn to look at him.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Garde-voir." She replied. There was no way she was going to be told not to bother Brennan at that moment. Deciding that arguing with her would be a futile, Machamp decided to just shrug. Knowing that she won the not-existing argument, Gardevoir turned back towards the hallway and continued on her way to Brennan's room.

Once she reached the door she stood and stared at it for several seconds, before gently grabbing ahold of the knob and twisting it. She slowly pushed the door open and peaked inside. Brennan stood in the middle of the room with his back to the door, one hand on his side, and the other pinching the bridge of his nose as he slowly shook his head. As he heard the door open, he quickly turned around to face it.

"Oh, Gardevoir, is...everything okay?" He asked. Gardevoir slowly floated into the room, softly closing the door behind her before she spoke.

"Voir." She nodded. "Gardevoir. Garde-Voir. Gardevoir." She wanted to see if he was okay. She needed to. He didn't need to be alone right now, and she knew it.

"No, I'm... I'm fine. I just needed a minute, that's all." His response didn't seem all that genuine. It was more false-reassurance, and Gardevoir could easily tell. He could tell she wasn't buying it, but at the same time, he hoped she was.

"Gardevoir. Garde..." She spoke in a soft, yet pained tone. Brennan was hurting. He was trying to hide it from his Pokémon, but Gardevoir saw right through the facade he was putting on, and she was sure his other Pokémon did too.

"Gardevoir..." he began, before closing his eyes and looking towards the floor as he once again slowly shook his head. He was trying as hard as he could to hold back any tears that wanted to escape. He was frustrated, upset, angry... but regardless of how he felt, he knew his Pokémon needed him to be strong right now. He didn't want to break down in front of them, that's why he left the room. "I—just seeing that... it's hard," he turned away from the Pokémon, before resting his hands on his bed to keep himself propped up. "I know they're going to call me when they... when they find him. And I... just don't know if I'm ready for that yet." He choked back whatever waterfall of tears fought to escape him as he spoke. Gardevoir stood by the door staring at him. She looked down towards the floor, sadly.

"Gardevoir. Voir. Garde... Voir." She spoke, apologizing. She knew what had happened was her fault. It was her fault that she was weak and couldn't defend herself. It was her fault that she got captured. It was her fault that Brennan risked his own life trying to rescue her. And the one that hurt the most, it was her fault that Blaziken sacrificed himself, which in turn tore Brennan apart. She was the one responsible for all of the hurt that he was feeling right now, and she knew she couldn't forgive herself for it.

Regardless of the way he was feeling, Brennan was still able to pick up the sadness in her voice. He looked over his shoulder and saw her still standing by the door, but now staring down at the carpet. The look of sadness and regret had taken over her face. "Gardevoir...?" He turned and took a few small steps towards her but stopped when she began speaking again.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir. Garde...Voir." Despite Brennan being the best thing that ever happened to her, she didn't feel like she had done him any good. She knew that if they had never met each other that day, none of this would have ever happened to him. He would still have Blaziken... and he would still be happy. She couldn't even bare to look at him knowing what she had taken from him. That alone hurt her worse than anything Team Scavenge had done to her.

"Gardevoir, you haven't done anything wrong..." Brennan started, before being interrupted.

"Voir! Gardevoir. Garde." She had never raised her voice like that before to Brennan specifically. She didn't do it to be mean, she did it to get her point across. It was mainly out of her building frustration with herself. Yes, she did do something wrong. She did everything wrong.

She clenched her fists and held her eyes closed tightly as her frustration tried to forced tears out. In just a few steps Brennan was across the room. Gardevoir tried to back away from him but just ended up hitting the door. Brennan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She struggled against him to try and get away. She didn't want to be around him because she didn't want to hurt him anymore. He showed no signs of letting her go until she was calmed down, so eventually her struggling stopped. She held tightly onto his shirt as she cried into it.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir." She cried. She didn't know what else to say besides, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," over and over again. Brennan held her tightly as she did.

"It's okay. It's...okay." He shushed her. He could say that, but Gardevoir knew it wasn't. Nothing was okay. Nothing was ever going to be okay.

"Gardevoir. Garde," she shook her head with her response. "Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde. Voir. Garde..." Brennan broke the hug just enough so he could look at her. She still refused to look at him, however. She didn't know if he could fully understand what she had been saying, but she knew she needed to say it regardless. "If it wasn't for me, Blaziken wouldn't be gone. The only thing I've done to you is hurt you. You're better off without me...", were her exact words. She pushed herself away from Brennan as he continued to stare at her. She remained facing the floor.

"I'm... I'm not though, Gardevoir." Brennan finally broke the silence. His response was enough to finally get the teary eyed Pokémon to look up at him. He understood her? Amongst her confusion, Brennan continued. "I'm... not better off without you. You've... you've changed my life. And not in a bad way either." He turned away from her and slowly stepped towards the bed before continuing. "I don't want you blaming yourself for what happened to Blaziken. It wasn't your fault. You didn't ask to get taken by Team Scavenge." As he stopped once again, he finally turned back around to face her. "And no, you haven't hurt me. Not in any way. You've... made me so happy. Before I met you, I thought I had everything I could have ever wanted. But after you came into my life I realized there had been an emptiness inside of me, an emptiness that you filled. And when I woke up on that trail and realized you were gone, I was terrified. I was terrified that the emptiness was going to come back... as selfish as that may sound. That's why I needed to find you. I needed to feel complete again. But then Blaziken... —Gardevoir, if it wasn't for you, I don't know how I would have made it through the past couple of days. You've been there for me. Not that Luna and the others haven't, but you... you've helped me in a way that they couldn't, and I will always be grateful of you for that. I will always be grateful... for you." Gardevoir was left standing in awe as he finished. She had no idea he actually felt that way about her. But Brennan, he spoke from the heart. He was being one-hundred percent honest with her about everything he had just said. She had kept his head on pretty straight over the past few days. She did make him happier than he was before. And most importantly... she did complete him.

Brennan's eyes traveled from Gardevoir, down to the carpet, as silence filled the room. Gardevoir remained in an awed state, as Brennan's comments continued to sink in. And once they finally did, they made her do something that she had always wanted to do, but been too scared of to actually do. She quickly rushed forward, smashing her lips against Brennan's, the impact sending him down into a sitting position on the bed. The things he had just said to her... they pushed her over the limit. She NEEDED him. She couldn't hold herself back anymore. His lips, they were everything she had imagined they would be.

Brennan was caught off guard at first, realizing that he was kissing a Pokémon. But as seconds passed, he realized he didn't give a damn. She wasn't a full Pokémon. She was a women, and that's how he had been treating her since the beginning of their time together. He didn't care how looked down upon this was. Deep down he knew he had wanted this for awhile, and it was happening. Kissing Gardevoir wasn't like kissing a one-hundred percent human woman, it was even better. Her lips... they were soft. So soft. They weren't super thick, but man, they felt amazing.

Several seconds passed before Brennan and Gardevoir separated. They stared deeply into each others eyes. Gardevoir's eyes were the most beautiful things in the world to Brennan. They were jewels, just like she was.

Without hesitation, Brennan once again closed the gap between them. He wanted more of Gardevoir. No, he NEEDED more of Gardevoir. Gardevoir showed no signs of resistance, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck when they rejoined for another long kiss.

Brennan placed his hands on Gardevoir's curvy hips. They weren't there long, before he gently ran them around to the small of her back. One made its way just past that before coming to a rest on her other side, while the other one ran up her back. She lightly shivered as she felt his hands slowly moving around her body.

Even though Gardevoir was enjoying their current situation, she wanted to be even closer to Brennan. Not breaking their kiss, Gardevoir climbed on her knees over Brennan's lap, holding onto him tighter than before. Gardevoir rubbing against him the way she did only made Brennan grow even more stiff than he already was.

Brennan wrapped his arms around her body tightly, and in one quick motion, stood up, spun her around, and dropped down to the bed, pinning her underneath him. Gardevoir wrapped her legs around his waste, making sure he couldn't get up. They once again broke their kiss, panting heavily as they did. They stared into each others eyes, feeling the same longing passion for one another. They both wanted it, and they could both sense it.

"Gardevoir, do you want to do this?" Brennan asked softly, as he gently stroked her face with his right hand. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to make sure of it first. Gardevoir took hold of his face, staring him straight in the eyes, and nodded. She was more sure of this than anything she had ever done before.

"Voir." She replied, just as softly as he asked the question. Brennan gave her a few short nods, the serious look on his face now softening.

"Have... you ever done this before?" He asked. Gardevoir slightly looked away, as she shook her head. "Hey," he continued, getting her to look back at him. "I'll go easy. If you want me to stop, just say so." He said. Gardevoir just replied with another nod.

Brennan didn't know that Gardevoir was a virgin, but he was so glad that she trusted him so much that she was going to allow him to be her first, and hopefully her only.

Brennan once again leaned in closer, connecting with Gardevoir for another kiss. As they kissed, he slowly ran his right hand down her body. Running it over her breasts, and down to her abdomen. He wanted to feel every curve on her body. Gardevoir once again gave a quick shiver when she felt his hand run over her breast. No one had ever touched her like that before.

He ran his hand down her abdomen and onto her thighs. Her legs loosened around his waste, as he gently rubbed them. He slightly pulled up her dress to get it out of the way. Gardevoir started blushing madly when she felt his warm hand rubbing her bare thigh, getting closer and closer to the most sacred part of her body.

Brennan's fingers finally made it to the lacy texture of Gardevoir's panties. He gave them a slight tug, making sure not to pull on them too hard. He moved his hand back up to the top of them, before sliding it into them, still avoiding her lady part as he did.

He continued to rub at her thighs, as he tried to deepen their kiss. Brennan was just as nervous as Gardevoir about what was going to happen next. He cared about her so much. His morals were telling him that fondling a Pokémon was wrong, but at the same time, he didn't care. She wasn't a Pokémon, she was just as human as he was. That was all he needed to tell himself, before he finally ran his fingers against her slit. Gardevoir let out a slight moan through their kiss.

He gently rubbed his fingers up and down against her, inciting moans to escape her mouth. The more repeated her moans got, the faster he quickened his pace. He hadn't even done much yet, and could already feel her getting wet. This convinced him to go further. Brennan gave her slit a few more rubs, before plunging his fingers in deeper. Gardevoir let out a surprised gasp and grasped the blankets on the bed as she broke away from their kiss. He watched her reaction as he slowly pumped his fingers inside of her, her growing wetness soaking them.

"V-Voir!" Gardevoir moaned out, covering her face with her hands. She knew Brennan was watching her for her reaction, but she was way too embarrassed to show it to him.

"You don't have to be embarrassed..." Brennan whispered before leaning in and resting his lips on her right cheek. He held them there for several seconds, before slowly lifting them and moving them to her neck. He gently began to kiss her neck as his fingering speed began to pick up once again. Gardevoir slightly cocked her head to the side allowing him better access to her neck. She let out another soft moan as his fingers quickly pumped inside of her. Shivers ran through her body at the combination of pleasure Brennan was giving her. But then... it stopped.

Gardevoir's eyes that had previously been closed as she reveled in the pleasure opened in curiosity. "Gardevoir...?" She questioner in disappointment as Brennan climbed off of her. They weren't done already. They couldn't be. She propped herself up on her elbows to get a better look at him.

"Don't worry... we aren't done." He replied as he lowered himself down just below her waist. He pulled her dress up, being greeted by her white laced panties, that were now soaked in the front. Gardevoir watched in nervousness and embarrassment as he grabbed the side of them. He held them for several seconds before looking up at her. "Is it okay?" He asked. He knew he already got her answer, but he was a little nervous himself. He didn't want to do something to her that she didn't want him to. Gardevoir bit her bottom lip, before slowly nodding in response. Her eyes looked off to the side, once again being too embarrassed to watch as Brennan slowly pulled her panties down. He hesitated at first knowing they were already in too deep to go back. From here on out, their relationship was going to be changed forever.

Brennan slipped Gardevoir's panties off, only holding on to them for a few short seconds before discarding them to the carpet below. Now he was getting a plain as day look at her slightly separated lips. The pink that shone through made blood rush to his cheeks. Gardevoir lay there waiting for him to do whatever it is that he was planning. She began growing impatient the longer it took him. She wanted to feel that same pleasure again she had been feeling just moments before. Brennan finally lowered himself down in front of her entrance. He spread her legs a little further apart before slowly running his tongue along her slit. Gardevoir gasped in surprise at the sudden feeling. And that one lick was all it took for Brennan to finally feel confident enough to really get started. He pressed his tongue deeper, starting at her clit, before moving his way down to her taint. The feeling made Gardevoir tremble in delight.

Brennan's eyes trailed up to see her face as he began again. This time lingering on her clit just a little longer, before making his way down. He could feel her quiver as he once again pushed his tongue in deeper. Gardevoir once again closed her eyes tight as she enjoyed the pleasurable feeling. A small smirk made its way onto Brennan's face as he used his tongue to massage her clit, and his left index and middle fingers to slowly pump in and out of her once again. Her eyes shot open as another pleasurable moan escaped her. She finally gained the courage to look down at him, watching as he pleasured her. He looked up, their eyes meeting once again. They stared at each other, her heart fluttered as they did. Her slightly gaped open mouth curved into a very lewd, yet loving smile. He gave her clit one last suckle, before finally forcing himself to pull away from her surprisingly delicious honey pot. He stood up, causing Gardevoir to do the same. Once up, Gardevoir grabbed onto his shirt and pulled herself close to him. Brennan wrapped his arms around her body as they once again locked eyes. Not a word was spoke between the two as their lips once again met. It didn't take long before their tongues met. They wrestled around with each other trying to take dominance over the other.

A soft, wet moan escaped Gardevoir as their lewd kiss continued. She ran her hands down Brennan's body before grabbing the sides of his shirt. She began slowly pulling it up, wanting to get it out of her way. They broke their kiss for just a moment as Brennan allowed her to pull his shirt off. She quickly tossed it to the side before they resumed their kiss. She slowly ran her hands along his now bare body. He was so masculine...

When they broke their kiss again, Brennan gently grabbed ahold of the shoulders of Gardevoir's dress, "I want to see how perfect you are." He said softly. Gardevoir grew just a bit more flushed than she already was. He had seen so much of her already, but now... now he was going to see everything. And this time... this time it was going to be for more than an accidental split second.

"Gardevoir..." she replied just as softly as she stared deeply into his eyes. He gave her another soft kiss, before slowly pushing the shoulders of her dress off of her. She slid her arms out of the sleeves, allowing the dress to easily drop to the floor below. She now stood in front of Brennan completely naked. He stared her up and down, taking in the sight. She began to grow increasingly nervous as silence took over. What if he wasn't happy with what he saw? What if he realized she wasn't as perfect as he thought she was?

"So... so beautiful." He finally spoke, breaking the silence. She was beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful to Brennan. She was indeed perfect. Gardevoir looked away in embarrassment as her cheeks once again burned a bright red. Brennan smiled as he placed his hand on her chin, gently turning her head to make her look at him. "I love you, Gardevoir." Hearing those words come out of Brennan's mouth made Gardevoir's heart skip a beat. A tear formed in her eye when the realization that everything she had ever wanted was now hers.

"Gardevoir..." she replied as a teary eye smile formed on her face. Brennan's smile remained as he once again closed the thin gap between them, locking their lips once more. This kiss was one neither of them would ever forget. As it went on, Gardevoir began to feel the large bulge that had grown in Brennan's pants. She began to tug at his belt forcing him to pull away just enough to see what she was doing. He looked down watching as she struggled to undo it. He heard a frustrated humph escape her, causing him to look up at her. She look rather annoyed with the belt. But eventually, she was able to finally undo it. Brennan looked back down as Gardevoir lowered herself to his waste level, pulling his pants down as she did. She was now eye level with his still covered groin. She thought back to her night in the shower as she stared ahead at his boxers. She was indeed ready to please her new master. The only difference was... this time it wasn't just a fantasy. It was actually happening.

Without further hesitation, she finally grabbed the sides of his boxers and pulled them to floor. She was now staring directly at his uncovered manhood. The first thing she noticed was how much bigger it was compared to in her fantasy. Brennan took notice of the gaze she was giving it. What was "large" to Gardevoir, was pretty average to Brennan. Maybe just a little bit above. But still, the way she was seemingly lost in thought as she stared made Brennan slightly blush. After remaining unmoving for several more seconds, she finally grabbed ahold of it. She felt it slightly twitch in her hand, as Brennan looked away. She looked up at him worried she grabbed it too hard, but quickly realized that he was just as nervous and embarrassed about this as she was. A smile made its way on to Gardevoir's face as she gently began to stroke it. This enticed a surprised gasp from Brennan. Once she saw that what she was doing was pleasing him, she became more daring. She leaned in and quickly flicked the head with her tongue. Brennan looked back down, staring directly into Gardevoir's eyes once again. The smile she had remained on her face as she put the head in her mouth. Her slow strokes continued up and down the shaft as she began sucking on the tip.

Her slow bobs around the tip aroused Brennan. Especially when she began running her tongue around it. Gardevoir remained staring up at him, watching as the pleasure took over his face. Deciding to take it one step forward, her bobs started going deeper, and deeper down his shaft, her tongue exploring every inch of it as it did.

"G-Gardevoir..." Brennan moaned out as the warmth of Gardevoir's mouth engulfed his fully hardened manhood. The feeling itself was the, now, greatest feeling in the world. When she saw just how much she was pleasing him with what she was doing, she began to quicken her pace, bobbing back and forth almost the entire length of his shaft. He grunted, this time closing his eyes and rearing his head back. Knowing she could make him as happy as he makes her was all she ever wanted. She took in the entire length wanting to do everything she could to make him feel good. "F-fuck...!" He moaned in a surprised pleasure as his eyes shot open. He looked back down at her as she retreated slightly, gagging before she did. As their eyes locked, Gardevoir once again took in the entire length, again gagging as she did. Brennan's mouth gaped open in a mixture of shock and pleasure. Her quick bobs once again picked up, continuing to run her tongue around Brennan's entire erection. Her loud gulps being the loudest thing in the room at that moment. Brennan placed a hand on the back of her head causing a smile to curve on her lips. "Gardevoir, holy shit..." he moaned out as he felt his legs weaken due to the insane amount of pleasure he was feeling at that moment.

Gardevoir's bobs began to slow. Her slurps had become so loud she was positive the others had heard them. She took in his entire length one last time before finally pulling it out of her mouth. The same stream of saliva ran from her lips to his length as it did in her fantasy. She let out a few sensual giggles as she used the back of her hand to wipe the saliva away. Brennan panted as he stared down at the Pokémon.

"Stand up, baby." Brennan ordered. Gardevoir listened.

"~Gardevoir.~" She crooned in a very sultry and lewd way, listening to her new master. Once she was up, without waiting for Brennan to do anything, she moved past him and bent over the side of the bed, displaying her perfect rump to him. Brennan stared at her as she began to lightly wiggle it. She looked back, letting out another little giggle at the speechless Brennan. He stepped towards her, pressing himself up against her. She continued her wiggling, but this time it was against Brennan's groin. He placed his hands on her hips as she grinded against him. "~Gardevoir~" She crooned, her tone the same as before, as she waited for Brennan to take her.

"Damn you're so perfect." Brennan said, staring down at her still grinding hips. Eventually he couldn't take her teasing anymore. He grabbed his erect member and gently began to rub it against her entrance, ceasing her grinding. She let out a moan as his teasing began. He ran the up and down against her slit, wetting it with her previously released juices. Finally, after teasing her for a prolonged period of time, he pushed the himself in. Gardevoir moaned loudly as he entered her, piercing her hymen, taking away her virginity. The slight pain surprising her, causing her to grasp tightly onto the blankets on the bed. Brennan gasped, himself at the sudden fantastic feeling.

His slow, steady pumps began, pushing himself deeper and deeper inside of her walls with each one. Her stream of pleasurable moans just seemed to turn Brennan on further. His thrusts began to quicken. He was now pumping his entire length in and out of her. Her cries of euphoric tantalizing pleasure filled the room. The lewd sounds of his testicles slapping against her becoming the second loudest noise.

"Gardevoir!" She cried in pleasure as Brennan's throbbing shaft hit her g-spot over, and over again.

"Keep moaning, baby. Keep moaning." Brennan said, taking maximum pleasure in her cries of ecstasy. His powerful thrusts continued as he ran his hands from her hips, further up her body, peeling her off of the bed back into a standing position. She pressed her bare back up against him, not being able to stand at that moment otherwise, as his hands traveled around to her front, they ran up her stomach, gently gliding past her spike, and up to her breasts. He took one in each hand, gently massaging them. She leaned her head back, resting it on his shoulder as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. The amount of pleasure he was making her feel was almost too much to handle. Taking it one step further, he leaned in and gently began nibbling on the left side of her neck. She gasped, before releasing another loud moan of euphoria. She reached her left hand over her shoulder, clutching onto the hair on the back of Brennan's head. She once again titled her head to the side so he could get at her neck better.

"I love you, Gardevoir. I love you so much." Brennan gasped out, before going right back to nibbling on her neck.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir!" She loved him too. She loved him more than anything in the world. As she replied, she could feel herself getting ready to explode. The pleasure had grown to be too much for her. She could feel her building orgasms ready to free itself. With another powerful, deep thrust into her womb, her eyes widened as she let out another loud cry and her pussy tightened around him, dousing his cock in her cream. She panted heavily as she laid back against Brennan. Now she knew for sure she wouldn't have been able to keep herself up without his support. Brennan held onto her tightly as he slid his still erect cock out of her, excess come leaking out with it.

He turned Gardevoir around in his arms before allowing her to sit down on the bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down on top of her once again as she fell to her back. She stared at him with the most lustful expression on her face that he had ever seen. "I'm glad someone's starting to open up a little." Brennan joked, Gardevoir let out a cute little giggle in response, before pulling him into another kiss. As their tongues wrestled each other once again, Brennan repositioned his still throbbing member over Gardevoir's already cum covered slit. She could feel the tip rubbing up against her entrance once again. Her right hand traveled down below, spreading her already tingling lips apart to allow Brennan easier access. She let out a soft moan into his mouth as she did.

He slowly pushed himself into her once again, enticing her to release another moan into his mouth. "I love that so much." He said in between their kiss. His hips began to thrust once again in a steady motion. Slow at first, but gaining speed as he went. Once he found where Gardevoir's g-spot was once again, his thrusts became harder and faster. She broke away from their kiss and let out another loud cry of pleasure, tightening her hold around Brennan's neck. Feeling him drilling into her once again was just as amazing as before.

As his powerful thrusts continued, he began pampering her with kisses. Starting with her lips, then moving to her cheek, down her neck, onto her shoulder, then moving to her chest. He kissed the top part of her chest, before moving his attention down to her breasts. He wanted to show her that he admired every single part of her body. "You're so perfect." He said again as he began to kiss around her breasts. He had told her that a few times already, but she was never going to get tired of hearing it.

"Gardevoir. Voir." She moaned out, as he ran his tongue over her left nipple. His thrusts began to slow, before stopping, as he made his way further down her body with his kisses. He had to pull himself out as he slid down, becoming eye level with her previously filled honeypot. He pressed his tongue against the bottom of it, before running it up to her clit, taking in some of her leftover cum from her previous orgasm. He smiled up at her as he did.

"So good." He complimented, taking in the intoxicating scent of her sex as he did. Feeling his hot breath teasing her already sensitive cunt, made her want him to fill her with his thick shaft once again.

He began kissing his way back up her body, over her bellybutton, and up her stomach, only stopping when he reached her spike. He looked at it, before glancing back up at that the very lustful Pokémon. He slowly moved in towards her spike, before gently placing a kiss on it. Gardevoir gasped and covered her face, trying to hide her embarrassment. Brennan had watched her reaction. He smiled knowing he had found another one of Gardevoir's sensitive spots. He began to pamper her spike with his kisses. She eventually removed her hands from her face, grabbing onto the blankets once again, as she let out another loud cry of exasperated pleasure.

"I'm glad you like that." Brennan said with a smirk, before kissing her spike once again. She wrapped her around his head before rearing her head back and letting out another moan. He kissed her spike a few more times before crawling back up her body, grabbing his still erect member, and sticking it back inside of her aching for more pussy. But this time, he didn't take it slow, he went right back into his fast, powerful thrusts, ramming into her g-spot over, and over again. She buried her face in his neck as he continued his steady motions, pumping himself in and out of her. Brennan could feel her digging her fingers into his back, holding onto him for dear life. The pleasure was consuming both of them. The longing craving for one another was finally being fulfilled. Neither one of them ever wanted it to end. But unfortunately for them, everything had to end at some point...

"G-Gardevoir, I'm-I'm going to..." Brennan panted out, not finishing before Gardevoir interrupted.

"Garde. Voir." She moaned out, before freeing one of her hands long enough to rub her stomach. "Gardevoir. Voir." She said.

"Inside?" Brennan asked, Gardevoir nodded before wrapping her arms back around his neck, pulling him down into another deep, passionate kiss. Brennan let out one more deep, hard thrust, forcing himself deep into her womb. She let another loud cry of pleasure through their kiss, just as Brennan gasped. The pleasure was enough to send both of them into their orgasms. The cum exploded out of Brennan's dick, filling her womb with his hot, sticky seed. And at the same time, her pussy tightened once again, as her cream covered his cock, mixing with his already released cum.

The two remained still for almost a minute straight before Brennan slowly pulled himself out of her, an excess trail of the result of their love making following him out, before collapsing on the bed next to his newly found lover. The two lay there panting heavily as they stared up the ceiling. What they had just done was going to change both of them for the rest of their lives. But knowing that they had each other in a deeper way than just being friends was what was going to get them through it. They were lovers. Lovers that no longer had to hide their love from one another.

"I love you Gardevoir, and I always will." Brennan finally spoke, breaking their silence. Gardevoir looked over at him, a smile very present on her face as she rolled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Gardevoir. Voir." She replied. Brennan kisses her forehead before wrapping his arms around her. The two were now left to fall asleep in each other's arms, as the sun set and nightfall took over.


	25. Chapter 25

Morning came, and Brennan was the first of the newly formed couple to stir awake. He slowly opened his eyes, immediately taking notice of the lack of his friend turned lover, Gardevoir, in his arms. He looked over spotting her still sound asleep with her bare back facing him. He figured she must have rolled away from him as she slept. A smile crept its way onto his face as he thought back to the amazing time the two of them had the previous night. It definitely was a night he was never going to forget.

He rolled over onto his side, wrapped his arms around her, gently pulling her against him, and pressed his lips against her shoulder. He had disturbed her just enough for her to wake up. A smile curled onto her lips as she reached a hand around his head, gently clutched his hair.

"Good morning..." Brennan spoke when he realized his new lover was awake. "Sorry for waking you. But I just couldn't resist."

"Gardevoir. Garde." She replied, the tiredness still present in her otherwise rather relaxed voice. She wasn't mad. Not at all. She was happy. Happy with how much love he was actually giving her. She pressed herself as close against him as she possibly could, before once again settling, letting out a relaxed sigh as she did.

"*Chuckle* Comfortable?" Brennan asked. Gardevoir nodded.

"Voir." He was so warm to her. This was the most comfortable she had ever felt, and probably the most comfortable she was ever going to feel.

As they lay there cuddled together, sharing the warmth of their own bodies with one another, Brennan felt the urge to once again tell the women in his arms the thing that he had held back for so long. "I love you, Gardevoir." He spoke softly, slightly tightening his hold on her. Gardevoir felt the same butterflies in her stomach that she had felt the previous night when he first said it. It seemed rather surreal to her that this was actually reality. The fact that the man she loved, a human nonetheless, returned a mutual feeling of love and admiration for her. She never thought of herself as "perfect." But Brennan— Brennan made her feel otherwise.

She began trying to roll over to face him, forcing him to loosen his hold on her. When she finally managed to, Brennan immediately locked eyes with her beautiful large, magenta ones that he could just make out with the little bit of light shining through the cracks in the blinds. "Gardevoir." She spoke, before pressing her lips against his. Brennan smiled into the kiss as he once again tightened his hold on her.

"That will NEVER get old." He said as their lips parted ever so slightly. Gardevoir let out a cute little giggle before nuzzling her head into him. Nothing could wipe the smile off of either of their faces at that moment.

Except the loud growl of Brennan's stomach...

His stomach growled loudly causing him to blush in embarrassment. Gardevoir looked up at him before letting out another giggle.

"So... hey, maybe I'm a bit hungry. Who knew?" He responded to his stomach's loud interruption, slightly shrugging as he did. "Tell you what, I'll go get breakfast started. You just come on out when you're ready."

"Voir." Gardevoir responded. Brennan smiled before pressing his lips against hers once again. Once they broke away again, Gardevoir dreaded what was coming next. Brennan broke his hold on her, and threw the blanket off of himself, before maneuvering himself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, leaving Gardevoir quite disappointed. He suddenly felt her disappointment as he stood up, his nude form from their previous night's escaped just visible from the sunlight shining into the room.

He looked back towards her before speaking. "Awe, c'mon, it's not like it's not for a good cause." She let out a disappointed sigh, causing Brennan to chuckle. "You'll be okay." He leaned in and gave her another quick peck before standing back up and going back to what he was doing. Gardevoir watched as he bent down to pull his pants up. He walked over to the dresser and pulled open one of the drawers, pulling out a white wife-beater shortly thereafter. He threw it on before turning back to the bed. "I'm going to make it up to you with a nice, hot breakfast. It'll totally be worth it." He smiled widely as he did. This caused Gardevoir's over exaggerated poutyness to turn into a small smile of her own. His breakfasts were pretty good. "There's that amazing smile." He said, causing Gardevoir's cheeks to burn in slight embarrassment.

Brennan chuckled before finally turning to exit the room. He opened the door ready to walk out of the room, but managed to force himself to stop before stepping on the sleeping Mightyena laying in the hallway floor. His wide smile from before slowly formed into a more sympathetic one. He and Gardevoir both fell asleep after they finished. They were exhausted. And in doing so, they locked Mightyena, who always slept at the foot of Brennan's bed, out of the room. He knelt down and gently stroked the sleeping Pokémon's head. Mightyena stirred a little at the touch.

"I'm sorry buddy." He apologized even though he knew the Pokémon couldn't hear him. He also knew he was going to have to make it up to him somehow. Eventually he stood, leaving the Pokémon to his slumber, before continuing his way down the hallway. And to his surprise, Machamp sat in his recliner with all four of his arms crossed. He definitely had an expression on his face that meant "I want answers."

"Morning, Champ." He spoke. His Pokémon remained silent. This caused him to slow to a stop. "What's wrong?"

"Machamp. Champ." The Pokemon finally broke his silence. He had heard his trainer and Gardevoir the previous night on his way to the bathroom. Luckily, the others hadn't. Surprisingly. A slight embarrassed flush heated Brennan's cheeks as his Pokémon began.

"W-what do you mean? We were, Uh, talking..." he lied. He could easily tell his Pokémon didn't believe him. He was too smart to. He didn't look too thrilled with the lie, either.

"Champ. Champ. Machamp." He spoke once again. Brennan grew a shade redder at his Pokémon calling it "mating". Realistically that's what it was. But it was still embarrassing to hear out loud.

"C-Champ, that's-thats not what-" he began to stutter, but stopped knowing he was just going to be wasting his breath. "Okay, look. We'll... discuss this later. For now, I'm going to get breakfast started." He left the room in quite the hurry afterwords, taking another glance at the empty couch before doing so. His smile had been almost completely wiped off his face at that point. It had been replaced with a mixture of sadness and embarrassment for being called out by his own Pokémon.

He rushed into the kitchen and towards the counter farthest away from the entrance. He placed his hands on it taking a few deep breaths as he did. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He was glad that was over... for the time being at least. In reality he knew it was just getting started. But that did also beg the question: if Machamp had overheard them, did his other Pokémon? I mean, he knew Gardevoir had been pretty loud the night before, but even so, he was hoping they hadn't heard anything.

He shook his head trying to shake what just happened out of it. He was determined to live up to his promise and make his new lover's breakfast a good one. He began quickly moving about the kitchen, trying to do just that.

After lying in bed for several more minutes, Gardevoir finally decided to get up. As comfortable as Brennan's bed was, nothing compared to sleeping in it while wrapped in his arms. She pushed the covers off of her exposing her nude body to the sunlight peaking through the blinds and whomever was to walk into the room at that moment. She slid over to the side of the bed, dangling her thin legs over the side before stretching and letting out a yawn.

She looked down at the clothes scattered around the floor of the room. Her cheeks began to heat up as she thought back to the rather hot night her and Brennan had had. She shook the thoughts away deciding that if she didn't, she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it. After, she stood up, her pointed legs digging into the carpet below. She began to lean down to pull her dress up, but that's when Brennan's shirt from the previous night caught her eyes. Instead of putting her dress back on, she left it lying in the floor. She pulled her panties back on before using her now much weaker psychic move to lift Brennan's shirt up and bring it to her. She stared at it for several seconds before deciding to put it on. It was just as big as the shirt she usually wore to bed, so it dropped down far enough to cover her panties.

She looked down at herself slightly embarrassed by what she was doing. Her wearing Brennan's clothes was nothing new. But it was almost as if she was wearing this shirt as a prize of sorts. She was the one that pulled it off of him in her desperate attempt to remove the thin barrier that had separated them. She wanted to wear it. She was going to. As her embarrassment slowly diminished, she finally headed for the door. She opened it, ready to head down the hallway, but quickly stopped just as Brennan had to do earlier. She hadn't noticed Mightyena until it was almost too late. She stared down at him for several seconds before gently stepping over him, trying to do her best not to wake him.

She wasn't as quick to realize why he was sleeping on the hallway floor, but when she finally did, she did feel a little remorseful about it. But she knew his sweet spot where he liked being rubbed, she would make it up to him just like Brennan was going to. She continued on her way down the hallway headed towards the bathroom. But when she got to the door and realized someone had beat her to it, she decided to just head to the kitchen. She wanted to clean herself up a little for Brennan before she did, but it didn't look like she was going to be able to. She already knew that he would have told her she didn't have to do stuff like that for him, but she wanted to.

She reached the end of the hallway before stopping and staring into the empty living room. It was silent. It was weird. No matter how many times Brennan told her it wasn't her fault, she still blamed herself for what happened to Blaziken. And staring at the empty couch made her feel even worse. She let out a sad sigh before finally continuing her way to the kitchen.

Once she reached the doorway of the kitchen, she saw Brennan with his back turned to her, facing the stove. The smell that filled the room was mouth watering. It's as if she could already taste his amazing cooking dancing around on her tastebuds. She smiled before quickly floating towards him, pressing her front into his back as she wrapped her arms around her waste.

"Gardevoir." She crooned happily before letting out a sigh. Brennan let out a little chuckle in response.

"Glad you're finally up. Breakfast will be done in just a—" he began before stopping as he turned around to face her, still locked in her tight embrace. He stopped when he saw what she was wearing. "Hmm... that shirt looks awfully familiar." The obvious jokingness of his voice made Gardevoir blush in embarrassment once again. He let out another chuckle before wrapping his arms around her. He leaned in real close before continuing. "Don't worry, a combination of my shirt and a pair of panties, if you're wearing any, is actually pretty sexy."

His comment caused her cheeks to burn even brighter. Brennan took amusement out of this. To calm her down some, he slowly leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. They only held the kiss for a few seconds before pulling away. After they locked eyes, just staring at each other. Brennan had somewhat of a smirk on his face to rival the cute, embarrassed smile that remained on Gardevoir's. They were so far lost in each other's eyes that they didn't notice the Pokémon who had been standing in the doorway watching. He eventually cleared his throat, getting both of their attention.

Machamp stood in the doorway staring at the two. Gardevoir's deep, embarrassed blush once again returned as she tried to hide herself in Brennan's chest. Brennan's arms remained around his girlfriend as he let out a sigh. Machamp stood still with his mouth curved and his non-existent eyebrows raised.

"Look, I'll tell the others soon. Okay?" He said curiously, hoping his Pokémon would accept that as an answer. He slowly shook his head in response as if he was an uninterested parent.

"Machamp." He finally said, motioning his top right hand thumb back towards the living room.

"Someone's at the door?" Brennan said curiously. Machamp nodded, before looking back towards Gardevoir.

"Champ. Machamp." He had taken notice to her lack of pants. Although she was wearing panties, and Brennan's oversized shirt looked like a dress on her, he still suggested that she may want to put some on if they were going to have company. Gardevoir was so embarrassed at that point she didn't want to remove her head from the crevice she had made in Brennan's shirt. He smiled down at her before rubbing his fingers through her soft, green locks.

"Thanks Machamp, I'll be there in a second." He said as he looked back towards the larger Pokémon.

"Champ." He replied. His tone sounding pretty plain. Brennan continued to stare at the doorway for a few seconds before finally looking back down towards Gardevoir.

"Okay, So, breakfast is just about done. You can go change... if you want to. I'll go see who's at the door. Then... then we can eat." His words finally got Gardevoir to look back up at him.

"Voir." She replied. Her tone was somewhat sheepish. Brennan could tell she was still pretty embarrassed about what had just happened. A small smile returned to his face as his softly kissed her forehead.

"No need to be embarrassed. He's just trying to help. At least I think he is." Brennan began to jokingly question his Pokémon's motives. Machamp was laid back. He knew he was just trying to help.

Brennan finally broke his hold on his girlfriend before turning back towards the stove. He turned the burners off, letting his freshly looked bacon cool down for them to eat. After, he turned back towards Gardevoir, who had remained in the same spot.

"Bacon, toast with your favorite berry flavored jams, and some scrambled eggs. That sound good?" He asked. Gardevoir smiled and nodded, not wanting to wait for her delicious breakfast. Brennan returned the nod with a smile. "Okay. Now let's go see who's at the door." Gardevoir once again nodded in response. Brennan took the lead out of the kitchen with Gardevoir following behind him. As they reached the living room, she took a sharp turn down the hallway to the bedroom. She was going to change into her dress to save herself from even more embarrassment. Brennan glanced back for split second and noticed she was gone. He knew where she was going. His theory was confirmed when he heard his bedroom door close.

He kept on to the door until he finally reached it. Once he did, he unlocked it and pulled it open to see who had decided to stop by this early in the morning.

"Luna, Lane? Hey. What's up?" Brennan greeted. He was curious. Luna had come over this early before, but she called him first before she did. And besides that, she clearly wasn't as happy and cheery as she usually was. She looked somewhat upset.

"Can we come in? I have to talk to you about something." She said. Brennan was quick to step aside, motioning for her, Lane, and Delphox to enter.

"Thank you." She thanked before entering. Brennan was seriously wondering what was up. Had something happened? She never sounded THIS upset. Besides that, Delphox looked the same. Her seeing what Brennan had began calling "Blaziken's Couch" didn't help either. It only seemed to make her even sadder.

"Luna, what's wrong?" Brennan asked, pushing the door closed as he turned to face her. Machamp had leaned forward in his chair, wanting an answer just as bad as Brennan did.

"Uh, Brennan... Police Chief Harrison called me this morning..." Luna began. Brennan's heart sunk down into his stomach when she told him that. But it still made him question why she got a call but he didn't. "He told me they've decided to not continue their search of what's left of the cave." This made Brennan's jaw drop.

"They're-they're giving up the search? W-why?" He asked, a mixture of anger and sadness apparent in his voice. Gardevoir had reemerged just as he finished. She saw Luna, Lane, and Delphox and didn't know what to think.

"Brennan, I don't know. The only thing he told me was they had done everything they could, and found everyone they could." Luna replied. She hated being the one to have to break the news to Brennan. But she figured it would be better for him to hear it from her than the police Chief.

"But Blaziken. They didn't find Blaziken. They didn't find him and—and they're giving up before they do?!" The frustration was beginning to take over as tears fought to escape his eyes. His other Pokémon had heard his fit of frustration and raced to the scene to see if they're Trainer was alright. They were just as lost as Gardevoir was.

"I can't even begin to imagine how upset you are right now. But—" Luna began, before being cut off.

"I know what you're going to say. You're going to ask me to calm down. I really don't see how you expect me to calm down when the police, the people who I thought were going to help, are giving up the search. He's still in there! He is! And I'll be damned if that's going to be where he stays. He deserves better than that! He—he..." His fit of anger had finally started to diminish. He couldn't hold back the tears anymore. The sniffles cut him off, as the tears started to pour from his eyes. He couldn't believe that this was happening. He couldn't. He didn't want to. Blaziken was gone and the police were giving up their search. Now Brennan was supposed to just let him wither away in a place like that. Alone. He refused to.

Gardevoir quickly made her way to Brennan and wrapped her arms around him. Luna watched as her own tears made their way down her cheeks. This whole situation was just so awful.

Delphox stood by her trainer with her eyes closed tight. She hadn't stopped crying since Luna told her what the call was about.

"I-it's not fair! It's not... fair." Brennan managed to say through his tears. This was destroying him. Gardevoir held him tightly, gently rubbing his back the same way he had done to her. She could feel his pain, and she didn't like it.

As Delphox's sniffles picked up, Brennan looked up at her. Luna had placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, ready to give her distraught Pokémon a hug if she wanted one. But Brennan he looked at Gardevoir, who even through his teary eyed face, understood what he wanted to do. She reluctantly let him go. He walked toward Delphox, glancing towards Luna, who backed off. Delphox looked at him, before the two embraced. They're crying continued as they tried to comfort each other. Everyone else stood around in a very sad silence.

"I'm—sorry." Brennan apologized quietly to the Pokémon. Delphox shook her head, deciding not to speak. She couldn't. She was too upset to. "H-he loved you. You know that? H-he wouldn't admit it, but he did." He continued. Delphox's tears were heavy already, but hearing that somehow made them heavier.

This had to have been the most heartbreaking thing Luna had ever seen. She looked over to Lane, who had remained silent, and his eyes were just as red as everyone else's from the tears that had escaped.

Knock Knock Knock*

Another knock on the door threatened to break up Brennan and Delphox's moment, but Luna wasn't going to let that happen. Brennan looked at her ready to go and answer it, but she waved him off before he could. She walked towards the door, wiping her eyes as she did. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down a little bit before opening it.

And what stood in front of her made her cover her mouth in shock, as a loud gasp escaped...

"B-Blaziken..."

 **Yep, I'm going to have to leave you on a Post-Christmas Cliffhanger. Usually I write some sort of Christmas themed story, or chapter every year, but I wasn't able to this year. So I figured this would make up for it. Maybe. Haha. Either way, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone reading!**


	26. Chapter 26

"Blaziken! Blaziken, we have to go!" It was faint, but Blaziken could hear it. It was Brennan, he knew that. But his anger... his anger wouldn't let him stop. Red was the only thing he could see. Throwing around Team Scavenge members like rag dolls was the only thing he could do at that moment. Nothing else.

"BLAZIKEN!" It was even more faint than before. He tightly grabbed a Team Scavenge member by the throat, slamming him hard into the wall, before turning and slamming him with the same brute force into the concrete floor.

He quickly spun around, nailing another member in the gut with a Fire Punch. He grunted loudly as he flew backwards into another member.

"Blaziken! BLAZIKEN!" The voice had almost vanished. The sound of another explosion was what was heard. He felt a bullet pierce his shoulder. He could feel the pain. Feel the blood from his fresh wound trickling through his fur. He let out a loud roar as he cloaked himself in flames. He turned and charged at the culprit, picking him up on his shoulder and not stopping until he had rammed him hard into the rock wall. That was a bad idea. The force caused the already weakened wall to crack even further. He let the now limp body of Team member slide down the wall and onto the floor below as the chunks of rock falling from the ceiling became larger, beginning to cloud the war zone in dirt.

"BLAZIKEN!" It was very, very faint, but he heard it one last time. He was too aintranced by his anger to even notice his trainer being dragged out of the room. Another loud explosion filled the room—the screams and cries of Team Scavenge members and their Pokémon blended in.

Blaziken grabbed another member before punching him right in the gut with a fast, ferocious Flame Punch. A large dirt cloud filled the air as chunks of rocks caved in from the roof. He looked around, watching as beaten, and weakened Team Scavenge members tried to flee. But they couldn't. That was the last thing he saw before a crushing weight fell on him from behind, taking him roughly to the ground.

After that... everything went black. The screams of Scavenge members and crumbles of rock hitting the ground became more and more faint, before everything was finally silenced.

Silence...

Silence...

Silence had taken over...

His eyes slowly blinked. Just once though. His body was numb. He didn't know where he was. He blinked again, this time trying to keep them open. But he failed. He closed them again. After, he tried to move. He tried to do anything. But he couldn't. He was weak. Weaker than he had ever been before. Weaker than he even thought possible.

He let out a weak grunt as he once again tried to move. The numbness began to fade, being replied by the pain dealt to his body as a result of the explosion. He let out a cried pain, beginning to grow frustrated. He was finally able to hold his eyes open, trying his best to look around the now destroyed room. The sunlight peaking in through the large holes in the roof providing enough light for him to be able to see the aftermath of the carnage that he had caused.

Bodies were strewn everywhere— Pokémon and human alike. They were all unmoving— lifeless. It was a very gruesome scene. He felt sick just looking at it. He began to try and drag himself forward, digging his claws into the floor as he did. But he couldn't. He was stuck. He dropped his face down onto the back of his hands as he let out another frustrated cry.

The frustration was now starting to get the better of him. He angrily looked up, beginning to punch the ground below him. It was doing absolutely nothing to help. Once he stopped, he finally managed to see what was keeping him pinned to the floor. A large support beam had fallen and landed on him. It hadn't crushed his legs, but it was on them just enough to where they were pinned down. He reached back trying his best to see if he could push the large beam off of himself, but it was way too heavy for him to move by himself. Especially in the state he was in. He let out another frustrated cry as he began to violently claw at the beam.

He eventually gave up— staring forward once again. He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head wondering if this was indeed going to be his end. After that thought, out of sheer frustration, he grabbed a nearby piece of rubble and chucked it as hard as he could. In doing so, he hit another pile of rubble, collapsing it. The tumbling rocks broke the silence for just a few seconds before they settled once again. The sun shining through the cracks in the ceiling gave him a clear view of the once again resting pile of rubble. As he stared at it, he noticed something peaking out from the dirty brown and grey rock chunks. It was a hat. But not just any hat. It was a hat that he was VERY familiar with. It was his Trainer's hat. The same hat he had dropped and left behind during the earlier events.

Blaziken began stretching his arm out, trying to reach for the hat that he knew was well out of reach. He dug his claws into the dirt struggling to pull himself forward. He grunted as he began trying to crawl, but the beam wouldn't allow him to make much progress. He hit the ground out of anger once again, before he again began to try and crawl forward. He was digging his claws into the ground deep as he struggled to try and pull himself forward. He kept his eyes locked onto the hat as he did. He wasn't going to give up and lay there and die. He refused. Brennan didn't train him to give up when times were tough. No. He trained him to be a fighter. To never give up.

He let out a loud growl as he felt himself begin to drag his body across the floor— his legs sliding their way out from underneath the beam. He never broke eye contact with his trainer's hat, not even when his legs finally became free and a sharp pain ran through them as the numbness began to wear off. He dug his claws into the ground, crawling over the rubble that lay scattered all over it, ignoring the small pieces that began to stick into his body.

Once he was close enough, he strained his arm out, grunting as he did, reaching for the hat. Once he felt his hand touch the fabric, he squeezed it hard as he pulled it back towards himself. He stared at it, his beak beginning to quiver as he did. He blinked his forming tears away before trying to push himself up to his knees. But he couldn't. He legs were hurting. They were hurting so bad he didn't think he could do it... but he knew he had to. His determination began to increase as he stared at his trainer's hat.

He grabbed onto a nearby chunk of rock ready to try and push himself up once again. With every bit of strength he had in him at that moment he pushed himself upwards—climbing the large chunk of rock. He let out another pain filled grunt as he did. Gritting his teeth as his legs and arms trembled. It was slow, but he was doing it. He felt himself ready to drop back to the ground but refused to let the weakness win. He couldn't. He had made it too far to allow that to happen. He let out a growl. It was anger, nor frustration... it was determination.

It grew louder and louder the closer he got to finally being on his feet once again. He stumbled, once again ready to collapse back to the ground, but he managed not to. And finally, after almost failing multiple times, he managed to get himself to his feet. As he pushed himself up from his hunched over position he let out a loud, frustrated scream, clenching his fists as he did. He felt the fabric from his trainer's hat fold in between his hand.

As his scream dwindled, he angrily looked around the trashed room his was in, now getting a better view than he was getting before. There wasn't anything left to it. Not anything at all. Everything was destroyed. One thing he did notice, and it was the most important thing to him, the door that he and Brennan ran through that got them into this mess wasn't completely blocked by what had caved in. He gave the room another quick glance around before he gingerly started stumbling his way towards it. He was getting out of there.

As he stumbled towards the door, the room began to get darker and darker as the light shining in through the hole in the ceiling began to fade. The worst part was trying to maneuver his way around the rubble and bodies that lay strewn about, especially as the light began to fade. It just made it harder for him to keep himself on his feet. Eventually he managed to make it to the door, collapsing against the doorframe as he did. He breathing had increased as stood staring into the darkened hallway. He closed his eyes and shook his head before continuing down his way down the hallway, using the wall to make sure he didn't collapse to the ground.

He could barely see anything in front of him as he slowly made his way down the hallway trying to find some sort of exit. He wanted to get out of there as quickly as he could. After witnessing what he did, and then almost dying inside of it, he hated that place with a passion. He continued to stumble around in the dark corridor, taking random hallways hoping he would find his way out. But it just felt like he was walking in circles. It seemed a lot bigger than it had before. It was beginning to feel like he was never going to find his way out. It felt like he was trapped.

He once again began to grow frustrated. He let out another frustrated scream. It made the eerie silence even more frightening than it already was. The echo of his scream didn't last long though before the silence had returned... almost. He heard something that made him look around in the darkness. He couldn't tell what it was at first. He glanced around again before he began trying to follow the sound. Walking through the dark hallways like a maze until the noise became louder and louder until he finally got close enough to finally find out what it was. It was crying. The crying of a Pokémon. And it wasn't just one. There had to have been at least a dozen. But that one managed to get his attention.

He quickened his pace as he searched for the room where the crying was coming from. And when he finally found it he realized it was the same room he and Brennan had stumbled upon when they first arrived there. The door had been left open, more than likely by an evacuating Team Scavenge member. But that same member didn't care enough about those trapped Pokémon to help them before he ran.

Blaziken pushed the door the rest of the way open before slowly making his way into the room. He was walking towards the cages when he noticed something on the metal table in the middle of the room. It was a Skitty. It lay motionless. Not breathing. The realization quickly hit him that this was the Skitty he and Brennan saw fighting to break away. But it wasn't strong enough to. Tears formed in his eyes as he stared down at the small Pokémon. Knowing the poor thing didn't even get a chance angered him. He would kill each and every Team Scavenge member if he could. Not that he didn't do a number on them already.

He took a deep breath before looking back towards the cages. By now most of the crying had ceased. The Pokémon were now silenced with fear. Blaziken took a few small steps towards the cages, watching as the frightened Pokémon tried to had in the back corners. He felt terrible for these poor things.

He walked over to the first cage peaking in to see a scared little Pichu shaking in the corner. He grabbed the bars on the door trying to pull it open, but it was locked. That's when, out of anger, he pulled with all of his might, ripping the door off of the hinges. The Pichu let out a scared little whimper, as it's shaking picked up.

"Blazi-Ken." Blaziken said softly, trying to reassure the Pokémon that he wasn't going to hurt it. The Pichu very gingerly looked up at him with one eye, staying curled in a shaky little ball as it did. This poor thing was terrified. He didn't know what Team Scavenge had done to it, but it was obviously enough to emotionally scar it. He very slowly reached his hand into the cage, gently petting the scared little Pokémon on the head. The Pichu let out a scared cry as it tried to jolt away from him, but considering it was already in the back of the cage, it didn't have anywhere to go.

"Blaziken." Blaziken spoke softly, once again trying to assure the Pichu that he wasn't going to hurt it. After, he reached his other hand into the cage and very gently grabbed ahold of the shaking Pokémon, before pulling him out of the cage. Another scared cry escaped it as he did. Once he had it out, he gently hugged it to his chest, trying to calm him down. Feeling just how much this poor Pichu was actually shaking broke his heart. As he tried to console Pichu, he moved on to the next cage. Trapped inside that one was an Azurill. Using one hand to keep Pichu in his grasp, he grabbed the bars on the cage with the other and ripped the door off the hinges like he had done previously. Azurill remained pressed up against the back of the cage as it stared ahead towards Blaziken. After tossing the now broken cage door off to the side, he put his free hand up letting the Azurill know he wasn't going to do him any harm, before quickly moving on to the next cage.

As he got further and further down the line, the Pokémon that had been trapped were beginning to trust him better. After rescuing about five of them, the others realized that he was just trying to help them. So one by one, as the doors came off, the Pokémon slowly but surely made their way down to the floor. Eventually Blaziken was surrounded by a dozen Pokémon that wanted nothing more than their freedom. After ripping the final cage door off, allowing the Oddish that had been trapped inside to join the other rescued Pokémon at Blaziken's feet, he looked around at them. He freed them from their cages, now he had to get them out of there.

He went to set Pichu down on the floor with the others, but he grasped onto his fur and let out a cry as he did. This caused him to stand back up with the still frightened Pokémon in his arm. The small Pokémon's trembling had continued, so Blaziken decided that maybe carrying him out was the best idea so that's what he was going to do.

He looked around to make sure all of the rescued Pokémon were accounted for before he began to make his way to the door. As he did, he stopped next to the metal table, staring down at the poor lifeless Skitty that inhabited it. He shook his head in anger and sadness as he stared at it. That's when he decided that it didn't deserve to be left there to rot. It deserved a proper burial. He scooped the Pokémon up in his free arm before continuing towards the door, motioning for the others to follow with his head.

As he stumbled back out into the dark hallway, he heard a couple of frightened cries from some of the rescued Pokémon. He looked back at them before speaking in a soft tone once again. "Blaziken. Blazi-Ken." He assured them that everything was okay, and they needed to stay close to him. Not that any of them were going to want to be anywhere but with him.

He moved down the blackened hallway with the others close by his feet. His eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness at this point. Although he was still stumbling, he was determined to get himself and the others out of there.

On occasion he would feel one of the others grab onto the fur on his legs when they would get frightened. Even though it did slightly make it more difficult for him to keep himself balanced with the extra weight, he didn't mind. They were scared. If they needed to cling to him for comfort, he was going to let them.

After several more minutes of somewhat blindly walking through the darkness, he finally saw something in the distance that made a small smile form on his beak. There was light. It shone through the cracked open front door of Team Scavenge's hideout.

"Blaziken." He spoke in somewhat of a hurried tone as he looked back at the rescued Pokémon, motioning for them to follow him. As he tried to pick up his speed, excited to finally be out of that horrid place that he almost lost his life in, he began to feel lightheaded. That feeling alone fought to slow him down, but he kept going. He kept going not knowing what was happening to him. But he knew even if he didn't make it, he wanted these other Pokémon to. They deserved to be free again.

As his stumbling became worse, the frightened Pichu finally looked up from having his face buried in the fur on Blaziken's shoulder. Blaziken's eyes had remained straight and determined, not having taken them off of the sunlight in the distance.

As they finally neared the door, Blaziken felt his legs become like jell-o once again before he dropped down to his knees, startling all the surrounding Pokémon. He tried to walk on his knees but he didn't make it far before falling forward, dropping Pichu, Skitty, and Brennan's hat as he did. His vision became blurry. "B-Blaziken." He said weakly lifting up one of his hands and pointing towards the door. He told the others to leave him and go. Pichu, who had landed on its little feet quickly jumped back to them before running forward and clutching back onto Blaziken's fur.

"Pichu." He spoke in a very soft tone. The others walked to the front of him staring at him. They began trying to get him back to his feet, but they couldn't.

"A-Abra." The Abra he had rescued spoke as he tried helping Blaziken back up. A dead tears escaping when he realized he couldn't.

"B-B-Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken." Blaziken spoke weakly. He told them that getting them out of there was what he cared about, and that they needed to go. But they didn't want to. They didn't want to leave him. He had rescued them. They couldn't leave him.

"P-P-Pichu." The Pichu cried, begging him to try and get back to his feet. Blaziken stared down at the pleading Pokémon. He tried to stand once again, but even with the others trying their best to help him, he still collapsed back down to the floor. Everything was a blur at that point.

"B-B-Blazi...Ken." Was what he managed to get out before everything began to fade to black. He felt the others still trying to help him back up, but it was futile. The last thing he managed to do before the darkness completely take over was clutch onto Brennan's hat... and that was it.

•••

•••

•••

He didn't know where he was. He was confused. His eyes slowly began trying to open, but it didn't last long before he had to shut them again because of the sun blaring down in them. He heard a bunch of happy cries causing him to once again slowly open his eyes and look around. Surrounding him were twelve now freed Pokémon. They all looked happier than they had been in a long time when they saw him push himself up on to his elbows. They all quickly surrounded him, nuzzling and hugging him in some sort of way. Even though his head was pounding, he couldn't help but smile again. He thought for sure that he was dying. But in the end it seems like he just fainted.

And the others, even though he told them to leave him and go be free, they helped him. They managed to get him out of there, and stayed by his side until he woke up.

"Pichu!" Pichu cried happily as he clenched Blaziken's fur with his tiny hands. As Blaziken patted the small Pokémon on the head, the others back up as the Spinda he had freed made his way towards him with something very familiar in his paws.

"Spinda." He said as he held Brennan's hat out to him. They must have grabbed it when they were bringing him out here. He stared at the hat for several seconds before slowly taking it.

"B-Blaziken." He thanked the Pokémon before looking around. "Blaziken. Blaze." He thanked them all. They had rescued him. He owed them.

His smile slowly fell from his face when he noticed what else they had brought out with them. It was that poor Skitty. That poor, poor Skitty. He looked down sadly as a couple of tears escaped him. He began trying to push himself back up to his feet, but he was clearly struggling, and the others saw that. They started doing what they could to help him. It was a team effort to get him out of that hell that was Team Scavenge's hideout, so even if it took all of their efforts, they were going to get him back up. And even though it took a minute to accomplish, but with their help, he managed to get back to his feet. He looked around at them, his small smile momentarily returning to his face as he did. But it faded just as quickly as it had returned as he looked back towards Skitty.

He slowly walked towards it, once again staggering as he did. Once he reached it, he very slowly leaned down and scooped it into his arms. He stood back up just staring at it sadly.

"Blaziken. Blaziken." He spoke. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you." Is what he had said. The others stood behind him feeling just as sad about it as he did.

"Hey there, y'all okay?" A voice asked, getting Blaziken's attention. He turned around and saw a girl. She was about the same height as Luna. She had red hair and freckles. She was accompanied by a few different Pokémon. The group of rescued Pokémon immediately jumped into fighting stances in front of Blaziken, ready to protect him. The girls Pokémon did the same thing, ready to defend their Trainer. "Woah, woah. Calm down." The girl said in her heavy souther accent as she looked around at her Pokémon. Her Gothitelle glanced at her, but remained in her defense stance.

Blaziken looked around at all the rescued Pokémon in front of him, before glancing back up at the girl.

"I mean no harm, I promise." The girl spoke as she put her hands up. He stared at her for several more seconds before finally speaking himself.

"Blaziken." He spoke getting the Pokémon defending him to look back at him. He gave them all a single nod as he did.

"I was around. Seen the explosion. Wanted to see if anyone made it out." The girl spoke. "My name is Becky." She introduced herself hoping that would help them trust her more. She really didn't mean any harm on them. "My friend went in there... I was worried. I wanted to make sure he got out of there."

Blaziken didn't know what "friend" she was talking about. But if it was a member of Team Scavenge, frankly, he didn't care either.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blazi-Ken." He replied taking a few steps forward as he did. Doing that allowed Becky to get a better look at what he was holding. She gasped when she saw it.

"T-that Skitty... is it-?" She was asking before cutting herself off as she took a few steps forward herself. Blaziken looked back down at the Pokémon in his arms, before looking back up at Becky and nodding. She could see just how upset he looked as he did. A few tears escaped Becky, before she took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "That's... awful." She said sadly before shaking her head.

"Blaziken." Blaziken spoke in a low tone, agreeing with her as he glanced back down at the Pokémon.

"I-if you want to give it a proper burial, I know a nice place." Becky offered, the sadness in her voice still present. She loved Pokémon. So it really did hurt her to see one end up like this. She already knew it was because of Team Scavenge. She didn't even have to ask. It was obvious. Blaziken stared down at the Pokémon for several seconds before he finally gave her a response. He looked up at her and nodded. This Pokémon deserved a good resting place. Somewhere peaceful. It's life was taken from it unfairly. They could at least do that for it. Becky gave him a silent nod in response, before motioning him to follow her. He looked around at the others before doing the same.

•••

•••

•••

Although Blaziken's injuries were clearly showing, especially evident in the way he was barley able to walk in a straight line, he still insisted on following Becky to the place she was talking about so they could bury Skitty. Becky had already asked him if he wanted to stop and rest, but he declined. He was determined to get this done before he collapsed again.

It seemed like they had walked for an hour or so before Becky finally looked back at them again. "We're almost there." She spoke. Blaziken was somewhat relived by that. They followed her through a clearing in the woods on the side of the trail. He felt something cuddle up against his leg as they continued their walk. This prompted him to look down to see what it was. It was Pichu. Something must have frightened him.

It didn't take much longer before Becky finally slowed to a stop. The others followed suit. Blaziken was left in awe at what was in front of him. It was a small clearing in the middle of the woods, but it was full of pink carnation flowers. It was so calming to look at. Blaziken stood taking in the sight until Becky spoke again. "Found it while we huntin' some berries awhile back. I always come back to it because of how beautiful it is. I figured... it would be a good spot to bury such a beautiful Pokémon." She looked at the Skitty as she did. Blaziken nodded in agreement.

Becky took her backpack off of her back and opened it up. She began fishing around for something, doing so until she finally pulled out a small hand shovel. She stared at it for several seconds before looking back at Blaziken.

"It's a good thing I keep this on me I guess. Use it to dig the holes for the stakes of my tent." She explained. Blaziken stayed silent as she did. He watched her as she walked towards a tree that stood opposite of the side of the woods they entered on. She kneeled down and began to dig a hole. The rescued Pokémon hadn't wandered too far away from him. He glanced around again to make sure they were all still around. As he did, he noticed Gothitelle staring him down. She hadn't taken her eyes off of him for more than five seconds since they met up. She still didn't trust him. The two Pokémon held eye contact for several seconds before Blaziken finally looked away.

Between Becky, the little bit Blaziken could do before the sheer amount of pain he was in stopped him, and the other Pokémon, it only took them about twenty minutes to dig a decent sized hole for Skitty. Blaziken held the Pokémon in his arms for several seconds, just staring at it. He wished so much he could have been quick enough to save it. He really did. He kneeled down before gently laying it in the hole they had dug. The group surrounded the hole, staring down into for several seconds, before Blaziken looked back up at Becky and gave her the nod to begin burying it.

As he watched, he tried his best to comfort the other Pokémon. They were all torn up about it too. He noticed a few tears escape Becky's eyes as she continued to shovel dirt back into the hole. She didn't know this Pokémon, Blaziken didn't either, but it was still heartbreaking having to bury such an innocent creature.

Once the hole was recovered with dirt, everyone there picked a carnation and stood back around the grave. "None of us ever got to meet this beautiful creature before her life was wrongly taken from her by those hateful monsters. But that doesn't matter. It doesn't. I know I would have loved Skitty just as much as I love my own Pokémon. And I hope she is looking down on us right now from heaven seein' just how cared about she was. Just how loved she was. We hope you rest easy girl." Becky spoke, getting emotional as she did. As she finished, she sat the carnation she was holding down on the grave. Blaziken stared down at the grave sadly. He watched as every other Pokémon followed Becky's lead. Eventually the grave was covered in those beautiful, pink carnations.

"Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken spoke quietly, before finally setting his carnation down on the grave. The group continued to stare at it sadly for several more seconds before they started to disperse. Eventually Blaziken and Becky were the last remaining by the grave. Eventually Blaziken began to feel lightheaded again. He pressed his hand against his head as he slowly started stumbling backwards. Becky looked over at him, quickly grabbing ahold of him so he wouldn't lose his balance and fall.

"Aye, I think ya need to sit down." She said, before helping him over to another nearby tree. Once they made it there, Blaziken practically collapsed to the ground. He sat with his back to the tree, it being the only thing keeping him up at that moment. As he sat there, Becky began to examine him. That's when she noticed just how bad his injuries were. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, plus his fur was covered in, at this point, dried blood. "Gosh! You're in bad shape, Blaziken. If we don't get you to a Pokémon Center these cuts could get infected."

Pichu ran up to the two and immediately started nuzzling Blaziken's side. He saw he was in pain. He was hoping he could help somehow. Blaziken dizzily looked down at Pichu, before looking back up at Becky, who was staring at him worriedly.

"B-Blaziken. Blaziken." He replied shaking his head as he did. Yeah, sure, he was beat up. That much was obvious. But not that Skitty was resting peacefully, his next main objective was to get home. He couldn't even imaging how Brennan and the others were reacting right now. He needed to let them know he was okay. He once again clenched Brennan's hat tightly in his hand. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His breathing had picked up as well. He needed to try and slow it down. He took a few more deep breaths before he began trying to push himself back to his feet.

"W-woah! Hey! Blaziken, you need to rest!" Becky said. Blaziken shook his head as he used the tree to help push himself back to his feet.

"B-Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze." He said before staggering past her and back towards where they had entered at. The rescued Pokémon began following him without question.

"Blaziken! Hey!" Becky exclaimed as she ran and grabbed his shoulder, trying to get him to stop, but he refused. "You're in'a hurry to get somewhere. I get it. But you won't make it like this. You're hurt. You need medicine. You need a doctor." She pleaded with him. But as stubborn as ever, he refused to listen to her.

"Blaziken." He replied, not turning back to face her as he did. She followed him back through the woods towards the trail, pleading with him the entire time. She had just met him, sure. But she didn't want him to drop dead before he could make it to where he was going.

He burst through the bushes leading back out onto the trail, not bothering to go through the clearing they had gone through to get them where they were just at. He ignored the fact that he almost collapsed onto the trail as he did. He began staggering down the trail with the rescued Pokémon right behind him. Becky ran past him and stopped in front of him.

"BLAZIKEN! Listen to me! You won't make it if we don't at least take care of your wounds first! They're bad!" She exclaimed. They were so bad she honestly didn't know how he was even on his feet at that moment. It was obvious that his determination was strong, but still. She couldn't believe it.

"Blaziken! Blaziken! B-Bl-Blazi..." Blaziken began, before grabbing his head again. The world once again began to spin, as he felt his legs grow weak. Eventually the blackness began to takeover again. He fell forward, hearing a few cries as he hit the ground. That was it. Then everything was black.

•••

•••

•••

"He'll be okay Pichu. I promise." A soft voice spoke, trying to comfort.

"P-Pichu." Another soft voice cried in response. This one full of fear.

Blaziken felt something nuzzle into his side as he lay there unmoving. He tried his hardest to open his eyes, but it didn't seem like they wanted to be open. He felt something cool—something wet press into the fur on his forehead. It sent a chill down his spine. The feeling, whatever it was, patted around on his forehead before it began moving down his face. It actually felt kinda nice. It began to makes its way down his body. It was like someone was wiping him down with something. He once again tried to force his eyes open to see what it was, but they still refused to work with him. The only thing he could do was lay there and enjoy whatever was currently happening to him.

It was weird. Usually he didn't like people being this in his personal space. Well, besides Delphox. But this... this he could get used to.

"He was in rough shape." The soft voice spoke again. She could have been talking to the frightened Pokémon currently cuddled against Blaziken's side, but she also could have just been talking to no one in-particular. "I really wish I could do more."

"Gothi." Another voice spoke, appearing from seemingly out of nowhere.

"He's still out of it." The former voice spoke once again.

"Gothitelle. Gothi." The new voice spoke once again.

"Are ya sure? You don't mind sittin' with him for'a few?" The former voice asked. The response must have been a silent one, because she spoke once again quickly after. "I appreciate it. Don't worry, I won't be gone too long."

"Gothitelle." The new voice replied. After, there was a bunch of shuffling. It didn't last too long before things went silent. Blaziken felt something press softly against his forehead. But it wasn't the coolness of what was previously wiping him down. His eyes were still shut, but he began to feel dizzy once again. He tried to speak, but he couldn't. It's like something was trying to control him, and he didn't know what it was.

He began to feel like he was falling into some sort of blackened abyss. It almost seemed never ending. But eventually it did. He could see something slowly appearing out of thin air. He didn't know what it was at first, but it soon became recognizable. It was Gothitelle.

He was confused. Very, VERY confused.

"We don't have long. I want answers. And YOU'RE going to give them to me." She spoke. Was she speaking... English? What was going on.

"Blaziken?" Blaziken spoke in confusion.

"You aren't asking the questions, I am. That hat, where did you get it?" She asked. Her tone of voice was a serious one.

"Blaziken. Blaze." He replied, a little annoyed.

"It matters because I want to know. Now tell me." She became more threatening as she did. She clearly wasn't in the mood for any games.

"Blaziken. Blaziken." He replied, now more annoyed than before. "It's my Trainer's." Was the response he gave her.

"Brennan. He's your trainer?" She asked. This shocked Blaziken. How did she know Brennan.

"Blaziken! Blaze-I-Ken?!" He exclaimed. Now HE wanted answers.

"We rescued him. The Gardevoir he was trying to help. Did he get her to safety?" Gothitelle asked. Her answer was vague. But that didn't stop her from jumping right back in with another question. Another question that confused Blaziken to his very core. When he didn't answer right away, she repeated herself. This time more important for an answer than before. "Did he get her to safety?!" She was demanding an answer.

"Ken! Blaziken?" He replied, before quickly asking a question of his own. He wanted to know why it mattered to her so much. She stayed silent, looking away from him as she did. She looked to be lost in her own thought.

"She made it." She spoke in an almost inaudible tone. Blaziken was more confused at that moment than he had ever been before.

"Blaziken. Ken?" He asked getting Gothitelle to once again return her gaze to him. She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. Look, I'm going to let you go now. And when I do, you won't remember any of this." She replied. Blaziken shook his head. This was insane. He still didn't get all the answers that he wanted.

"Blaziken?! Blaziken! Blaze!" He exclaimed. Gothitelle stared at him in silence. She didn't say anything. She slowly began to fade away. Blaziken tried running at her to stop her, but it didn't feel like he was going anywhere. "Blazi-!" He was trying to say before being cut off as that same dizzy feeling returned. The world was spinning once again.

"BLAZIKEN?!" Blaziken exclaimed in surprise as he shot up into a sitting position, his fur soaked in sweat. Pichu, who had been asleep beside him, jumped up in surprise. Gothitelle had remained sitting next to him in silence. She had that same unreadable expression on her face that she usually did. He looked around in a panic as he struggled to try and calm his breathing down. Becky, who had heard the commotion, case rushing back inside of the tent.

"Blaziken! Blaziken, hey. Calm down. It's okay." She said, trying to get the dazed and confused Pokémon to relax. He stared at her for several seconds, finally managing to start slowing down his breathing. Becky flashed him a small smile when she saw him beginning to calm down.

"B-Blaziken?" Blaziken asked, looking around the tent once again as he did. Becky understood what he was asking. She knew he was going to be confused when he finally woke up.

"It's okay. This is my tent. After you passed out on the trail last night we found a good place to set up camp for the night and brought you here. I've been takin' care of you ever since. With the others' help of course." She explained, not wanting to take all of the credit. "You were out for awhile. Slept through the night. The others have been really worried about you. Pichu hasn't left your side the entire time." She pointed down at the small mouse Pokémon with a smile. He had once again returned to cuddling into Blaziken's fur. Blaziken looked down at him before looking back at Becky.

"Blaziken?" He asked.

"It's nothing too fancy, but I cleaned and bandaged up your wounds the best I could. Gothitelle went out and found some berries that I made into a medicine my dad showed me how to make. Again, nothin' too special, but I'm hoping it helped a little." Becky replied. Blaziken looked down at his now bandaged wounds. With all the dried blood cleaned off of him, and the bandages hiding all of his cuts, he did look better. He looked back at Becky and nodded.

"Blaziken." He thanked her. She flashed him another smile before replying.

"It was no problem. I'm glad I could help, even if it wasn't much." She was glad she could help. Sure, she didn't know what Gothitelle did, but maybe that was for the better. Maybe. "Oh! I almost forgot. Your armband, there was a rip in it. Not sure how much longer it would have lasted if that didn't get taken care of." She said as reached for something to the side of her. It was the armband Brennan had given him with the Mega Stone in it. She held it out for him, taking notice of the freshly sewn seam running along the side. Blaziken took it out of her hand, staring at it for several seconds, before sliding it back onto his arm where it belonged. After, the silence lingered, before she finally spoke again. "A Blazikenite Mega Stone. I don't see those too often. Your trainer, did he give that to you?" She asked. Blaziken glanced back at the armband before nodding.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze." He replied. After, he glanced around the tent trying to find Brennan's hat. It didn't take too long before he finally noticed it. Pichu had kept it pretty close to him, almost as if he was trying to protect it. A small smile crossed his face, deciding to just let him be. He looked back at Becky, who had been watching Pichu herself.

"So you're just trying to get home? I bet your trainer is worried sick." Blaziken looked off to the side after she said that. Yeah, he and Brennan had been at odds lately, but the thought of how upset he must be at that particular moment hurt Blaziken. He never wanted any of this to go down the way it had. Maybe he had been acting too immature about this whole Gardevoir thing. He shook his head before realizing he needed to go. Becky had said he had slept through the night, so he had gotten plenty of rest. He needed to get moving. He needed to get home.

He began trying to get up, stirring Pichu awake as he did. Feeling cramped, Gothitelle decided to leave the tent. As Blaziken made his exit, with Pichu close behind him, hat in his tiny hands, Becky followed suit.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze." Blaziken spoke, silencing Becky before she could begin saying what she wanted to. The other rescued Pokémon happily jumped up when they saw the now awake Blaziken exit he tent. He was moving a lot faster than he was before. He was still hurt, but it wasn't as obvious as it had been.

"Blaziken, I don't know if you should be tryin' to make this trip yet. Even though you're lookin' better than you did, you're still in pretty bad shape." Becky said. Blaziken shook his head.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken." He explained. He appreciated what Becky had done for him. But now, now he had to move on. He was still a long way from home so he couldn't afford to waste anymore time. As reluctant as Becky was, she still nodded. She couldn't stop him. She knew that. So she had to give him the benefit of the doubt here. She had every bit of faith in the world that he would make it home.

"Okay. You gotta do what you gotta do. Just know that I'm here one-hundred percent sure you'll make it home." She said.

"Blaziken." He replied, giving her a smile and a nod as he did. After, he looked around at all the rescued Pokémon. They had remained loyal to him. It hadn't even been a full day since he first met them, but they had been by his side through all of this. He rescued them so they could enjoy the world. He smiled around at them before kneeling down. "Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken. Blaze. Blazi. Ken." The Pokémon were surprised by what he had just said to them. "Thank you for your help. I appreciate it, and I will never forget it. I have to go. I want you guys to go enjoy being free. You deserve it." They all looked around at each other, before piling in for a hug. They didn't want to leave Blaziken. He saved their lives. If it wasn't for him, they would still be trapped in those cages.

"Nuz-leaf." The Rescued Nuzleaf spoke.

"Oddish." Oddish spoke sadly.

"Mud-kip." Mudkip said, as he nuzzled his head against Blaziken's leg.

Becky stood by watching, knowing what was being said between the group. She could tell. It was sad to see. She watched as Blaziken wrapped his arms around as many of them as he could, pulling them in for a large group hug. She could tell just how sad the others were about this. So that's when she came up with something.

"Hey." She spoke up, getting Blaziken to look at her. "I understand why you're doin' whatcha are. But I have a suggestion. My group and I, it's just the five of us, and it's been that way for a long time now. We wouldn't mind having some more company on the road. We do a lot of travelin' too. There's a lot to see out there. So... if you guys would like, you can come with us." She offered, a big, bright, friendly smile on her face as she did. Blaziken was pretty surprised by her offer. It was very generous of her. He knew adding twelve more Pokémon to her party was going to be a lot to take on, but she seemed more than happy to do it. The group of rescued Pokémon looked from Blaziken, to her, back to Blaziken. They weren't sure what to do, and Blaziken could tell.

"Blaziken. Blaze. Blaziken. Blaziken." He explained. He knew that then staying with Becky would be better for them anyway. She travels. They could see the world with her. With him the only thing they would get to see is Brennan's living room. They deserved better than that, especially considering all they had been through. He could see they wanted to remain loyal to him. He wasn't sure if they had just grown really attached, or if they were doing it because they felt they owed him.

"Spiiiinda." Spinda spoke, giving Blaziken an understanding nod. He looked around at the other rescued Pokémon before continuing. "Spinda. Spinda. Spin-da." He spoke. The others looked around at each other, before finally giving some sort of nod in response. After, he looked back at Blaziken. "Spinda. Spinda." He said, thanking him for what he had done for himself and the others. Blaziken offered him a smile, as the group embraced in one more large hug. After they broke it, Blaziken smiled around at the group one last time before pushing himself up to his feet. He turned back towards Becky after he did.

"Blaziken." He thanked her once again. She gave him another smile and a single nod.

"Get home safe." She said.

"Blaziken." He replied. After, he began to walk away from the group. It didn't last long before he heard the pitter patter it very fall footsteps in the grass behind him. He turned around only to be greeted by Pichu. The small mouse Pokémon had a very sad look on his face. He also still had Brennan's hat in his tiny hands.

"P-Pichu. Pichu." He spoke quietly as he stared up at the much larger Blaziken. Blaziken kneeled down again, giving him a smile as he gently patted the top of his head. Tears began to form in his large, sad eyes, as he sprung forward, clutching onto the fur on his leg. "P-P-Pichu. P-pichu." He cried. Blaziken stared down sadly at the upset Pokémon. Gently rubbing the top of his head as he did. Pichu wanted to go with him. He had grown so attached to Blaziken that he didn't want to leave him.

Becky watched on as Blaziken tried to console the crying Pokémon. "I think you should let him come with you." She spoke up, getting Blaziken to look up at her. "It wouldn't be a bad thing to have a travelin' buddy, would it? Besides, look at how small he is, I don't think your trainer will have too big of problem letting him join your team." She continued. Blaziken stared at her for several more seconds, before looking back down at the crying Pichu. He had looked up at him just enough for him to see his large, sad eyes. This made Blaziken sigh in defeat. He nodded.

"Blaze. Blaziken. Blaze." He spoke. This caused Pichu to begin crying again. But this time, it wasn't in sadness, it was joy. He jumped onto Blaziken hugging him as best as he could. Blaziken smiled as he hugged him back, standing back up as he did.

"How adorable." Becky said to no one in particular. It was official, Pichu was going with him.

Blaziken held the small Pokémon in his arms as he looked back towards Becky and the others. "Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaze." He spoke.

"Well, I hope the two of you have a fun trip home." Becky said with a smile. Blaziken nodded again.

"Blaziken. Blaze." He said, offering the group another wave. He had thanked Becky again, before he and Pichu headed off. Saying bye to all the others that he had rescued was going to be hard. But he knew they were in good hands with Becky.

"Blaziken. Blaziken." He spoke as he and Pichu approached the trail. "Pichu, lets go home." Was what he had said. Pichu nodded happily, climbing onto Blaziken's afterwards. The two were off. Headed for home. He wasn't sure how long it was going to take them to get there. But they were indeed going to get there.

•••

•••

•••

The walk had been a long and tedious one. For Blaziken more so than Pichu. The bandages had begun to fall off about halfway through their trip, allowing the cuts to start bleeding again. He tried to ignore it as blood once again began to soak his fur. He would make it. No problem. Finding camp for the night was a bit annoying too. But they were finally able to stumble on a cave that was actually a good place to rest for the night.

After they had gotten their rest, they set out again at the crack of down. With how long they had walked the previous day, Blaziken knew they were much further out. They couldn't be. And eventually, after all they went through to get there, they made it back to Slate Port. Blaziken walked through the very familiar city, glad that he was actually being able to see it again. Pichu looked around in awe. Blaziken looked towards the small Pokémon that rested upon his left shoulder, giving him a small smile as he did. He was ignoring the fact the passerby had noticed his blood covered fur. They were giving him very strange looks.

The pair eventually made it through the city and to the trail leading back to the apartment. Even though his legs had gotten so bad again he started limping again, they were almost there. Almost... home.

Pichu clenched tightly to the fur on the back of his neck, once again nuzzling his small head into the side of Blaziken's head. He reached around patting the small Pokémon on the head, causing him to coo in response. He was really hoping Brennan and the others would fall in love with the little guy like he had.

And as if the trail only took two seconds to walk down, the pair had finally reached the apartments. Blaziken stood there, taking in the sight for several seconds before smile formed on his face. Against all odds, he had made it. He wasn't sure how long it had taken, but he made it. No. THEY made it. He glanced over at Pichu one last time before he began walking towards the complex.

It was a slow walk up the stairs, but he knew it was all worth it once he had reached the door to the apartment. He lifted his shaky hand, ready to knock, and once he did, the nervous little Pichu jumped off of his shoulder, hiding behind his leg. Blaziken looked behind him, down towards the scared Pokémon. But before he could reassure him everything was alright, the door opened.

It was Luna. And she looked shocked to say the least. "Blaziken..." she managed to get out before turning back towards Brennan.

Brennan and Delphox had broke their hug, just as shocked as Luna was. Delphox covered her snout, as Brennan took a few short steps towards the door.

"B-Blaziken." Blaziken spoke, as he held out Brennan's hat. Brennan broke down once again as he ran towards his Pokémon. He collided with him so hard, he knocked him back a couple of inches. He cried as he tightly grasped his fur. Blaziken stared at the others, who remained shocked, and in silence, before looking back at his trainer. He eventually returned the hug, happy to finally be home.

"I-I thought *Sniffle* I-I lost you." Brennan cried. Blaziken shook his head.

Gardevoir was so shocked about this she was shaking. Tears ran down her cheeks as she stood there. Delphox was crying just as hard as Brennan was.

"I-I'm sorry *Sniffle* Blaziken. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything." Brennan cried, continuing to hold his Pokémon.

"Blaziken. Blaziken. Blaziken." Blaziken spoke. He had apologized for the way he had been acting. All of this had helped him realize that he was wrong. Brennan and Gardevoir has done nothing wrong. He had. He acted like a child, and he was wrong for it. "Blaziken. Blaze." He apologized to Gardevoir, staring right at her as he did. She remained silent. She was still too in shock to respond.

After, his eyes locked onto Delphox's. Brennan had finally broke his grasp on him, allowing him to take a few steps towards her. He didn't get far before she ran and tackled him into a hug just like Brennan had done. She almost knocked him off of his feet in the process. She held him tightly and cried into his fur. He held her back, just standing there. She only broke away far enough to begin smothering his face in kisses.

Pichu was left standing alone, shy, nervous, and scared outside of the apartment door. That's when Brennan noticed him.

"Blaziken, you brought a friend?" He asked, wiping some of the tears off of his face as he did. Blaziken broke the hug with Delphox, still managing to keep his arm around her, as he turned towards his trainer. He nodded, motioning the small mouse Pokémon over. Pichu ran into the apartment at lightening speed, over to Blaziken, and quickly climbed him like a tree, finally resting on his shoulder. Brennan smiled and nodded. "Well, welcome to the family little guy." He spoke. This caused Blaziken to smile. It was a lot quicker than he thought, but he was glad Brennan was okay with Pichu.

They were home. They had made it. They were back with their family. That's all that mattered. That's all that ever mattered.


	27. Chapter 27

After everyone settled from Blaziken's resurgence, they headed back into town to the Pokémon Center to get him checked out. Because it was very obvious that he needed it.

For what felt like the thirtieth time in the past week, Brennan sat in the waiting room at the Pokémon Center. He had been there so much lately it was beginning to feel like a second home. Blaziken was in the back getting checked up on by the doctor, while the others waited.

Gardevoir, who was sat next to him, glanced over at him as they sat. The smile that she loved so much had finally returned to his face. His pain—the pain that she could feel, it was gone. Now she could feel his joy. His relief. That made her so happy. He felt her gently tug on his arm, causing him to look over at her, the smile still present on his face. She returned the smile as they locked eyes. After, he gently took her hand into his, their fingers intertwining as they rested them back on their respective chair's armrests. Luna took notice of this. All's she could do was flash the pair a smile. She was happy to see Brennan smiling again.

It took about an hour and half, but eventually, the double-swinging doors to the back opened up and Blaziken came walking out with Pichu, who had refused to leave his side, trotting along beside him, and one of the Center's doctors in toe. His left arm was now wrapped in a cast, resting gently in a sling. There were also a few more miscellaneous bandages cover a few more smaller wounds around his body.

Brennan and Delphox were quick to their feet as the smaller group approached them. Delphox hastily made her way over to Blaziken, checking on him. As Blaziken tried to reassure her that he was alright now, the Doctor approached Brennan.

"Mister Phillips, Blaziken is all patched up. However it is very important that you got him here when you did. If his wounds would have gone untreated for much longer it could have led to an infection that more than likely would have resulted in death." The Doctor explained. Hearing that scared Brennan. Sure, he got him there as quickly as he could. But still. What if he hadn't? What if he would have been too slow? "The bullet wound in his shoulder missed all of his vital arteries, but he did lose a vast amount of blood because of that wound alone. That doesn't even include all of the more minor injuries he had suffered. It truly is a miracle that he was able to make it home to you with that much damage to his body."

As he said that, Brennan couldn't help but glance over at the newly dubbed "Miracle Pokémon". A smile was present on his face as Delphox clinged to his right arm. He was still trying to reassure her that he was feeling better. It indeed was a miracle. A miracle that Brennan was glad happened.

"As far as his legs, they fortunately aren't broken. There was some nerve damage and minor bruising though, so he is going to need to remain light on his feet for awhile, as to not make it any worse." The Doctor continued. Brennan nodded in understanding at this. "Anyway, he is free to go." He spoke, before looking towards his patient with a smile. "Take care of yourself now Blaziken, ya hear?"

Blaziken returned the smile, as he gave the doctor a nod. "Blaziken." After that, The Doctor headed back to the back to move on to his next patient, leaving the group standing in the lobby.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Blaziken!" Luna was the first to speak. She sounded just as cheery as ever as she did.

"Yeah buddy, it's good to see you again." Lane added, sounding as genuinely happy as his girlfriend. Blaziken smiled at the pair.

"Del~phox." Delphox spoke, clinging even tighter to Blaziken's good arm. She felt as if she didn't want to let him go again. When she thought he was gone, it broke her... mentally and physically. It was hard trying to process the fact that the Pokémon she had dedicated almost her entire life to was gone. So her having him back made her not want to take for granted another moment with him.

Brennan stared at the pair with a smile. Watching them could have made him cry. Again, not out of sadness, but out of the fact that his best friend—the same best friend that up to a few hours ago he thought he had lost, was back in his life. And just like Delphox, he knew that this was his wake up call. He wasn't going to take for granted another moment not just with Blaziken, but with any of his Pokémon. He loved every single one of them. And knowing that at any moment one of them could be torn out of his life forever scared him. So he swore to himself that from now on he was going to make sure he made every minute he spent with them count.

"So to celebrate, why don't we go get some lunch?" Luna suggested, breaking Brennan from his thoughts. He glanced at her and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. Blaziken why don't you pick the restaurant, buddy." He said, turning his attention back to his Pokémon. Luna nodded happily, agreeing with Brennan's own suggestion. Blaziken stood thinking about this decision. It didn't take him long before he finally decided.

"Blaziken!" He decided happily. The PokéPlace Diner. This decision somewhat surprised Brennan. It wasn't even his favorite place to eat. Delphox, however, lit up with his decision. Then it hit him. He knew why Blaziken chose that specific restaurant. Because it was Delphox's favorite. A small, smile curled it's way onto his face at the realization.

"Alright, PokéPlace it is." He announced. Everyone looked pretty happy with the decision. After, they headed out of the Pokémon Center and towards PokéPlace. It was only about a six minute walk from where they were at, which wasn't too bad.

As they walked, Brennan looked over towards Gardevoir. She looked just as happy as him about Blaziken's resurgence. He could feel it. As if she knew he was looking at her, Gardevoir turned her head to face him. The two lovers locked eyes once again, their silence remaining. They had fallen a little behind the others, but they were so entranced by each other, they hadn't even noticed. He once again took her hand in his, not even worried about what the passerby thought. He didn't care what anyone thought. Not even a little bit. She intertwined her fingers into his, slightly sliding closer to him as she did.

"C'mon you guys! We're almost there!" Luna called as she looked back towards the two, finally noticing they were missing from whatever conversation the rest of the group was having. They turned to face her, finally breaking their deep eye contact.

"All right. We're coming." Brennan replied in the most relaxed tone he had had in awhile. Luna flashed the two a smile, taking that answer as enough, before looking straight once again.

As they were catching back up, Brennan took that opportunity to look around at his friends—no, his family. They had always been more than just his friends. His life was once again complete. This—This right here was all he needed. It's all he was ever going to need, and he was sure of it.

•••

•••

•••

After lunch the group had headed back to Brennan's apartment. They had really enjoyed spending the day together. There wasn't a sour sport in the entire group. Everyone had been all smiles. Laughing, joking around, just having fun just like they usually would have. It was very refreshing from all the heartbreak and sadness that had begun to take over.

Brennan and Gardevoir once again tailed behind the group. Brennan watched as Delphox cuddled into Blaziken's good arm, and Pichu rested on his shoulder. He let out a soft, almost inaudible chuckle getting Gardevoir to look over at him. He could sense her growing curiosity as to what his chuckling was about. He glanced towards her with a smile on his face.

"I'm just... so happy." His response caused her to smile widely and cuddle into his arm just like Delphox had done to Blaziken. Brennan didn't mind it. He wasn't even thinking about what Luna or Lane would say if they turned around right now. And quite honestly, he didn't really care either. He gently placed his lips on the top of his lover's head, offering her what little bit of physical affection he could at that moment. She loved it. It was another simple top of the head kiss, but she loved it more than anything.

Brennan always enjoyed walks like this. Gardevoir did too. They were relaxing. Helped clear their minds of any worry that they had, even if just for a little while. But this walk—this walk was different. It was different because all of Brennan's worries had already vanished. Everything that had been tearing him apart was now gone. The feeling was amazing.

After enjoying their walk, the group eventually made it back to Brennan's apartment. They all crowded around in the living room just hanging out. It was great. It was almost eight o'clock before Luna and Lane got ready to head out. Delphox of course wasn't too pleased about it. She really did want to stay with Blaziken. But after promising they'd come back in the morning, they were finally able to convince her to leave. Luna thought it was really adorable.

They said their goodbyes before finally heading out. Delphox made sure to give Blaziken a big, loving hug and kiss before she left. Blaziken had a smile that stayed on his face even after they left. Once they were gone, Brennan turned back towards his group of tired Pokémon.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" He asked happily. All of them responded with some sort of happy cry. Brennan chuckled as they did. After, Mightyena let out a loud, tiring yawn that was so effective, the others followed suit. "Okay, maybe it's time for bed. We've had a pretty exciting day." As he said that, Blaziken carefully moved his legs up onto the couch so he could lay down. After he was settled, Pichu cuddled into his side. Roserade and Sandslash had bid their trainer a goodnight before heading to their room. Machamp was already out of it with his mouth gaped open and his arms dangling over the sides of the chairs when Brennan's eyes finally landed on him. That itself earned a small chuckle from Brennan.

He looked down at Mightyena before gently petting the tired Pokémon on the top of his head. "Come on buddy." He said. Mightyena gave him a tired nod before he slowly began heading down the hallway towards the bedroom. Next he looked towards Gardevoir and motioned towards the bedroom with his head. She nodded. She was next to head down the hallway leaving Brennan to turn the lights off so they wouldn't disturb his sleeping Pokémon.

As he was headed back down the hallway towards his bedroom, he stopped and looked back towards the now darkened living room. "Goodnight guys. I love you." His words were quiet. He knew his sleeping Pokémon weren't going to be able to hear them. But he needed to say them. He glanced back towards the sleeping Blaziken with a small smile on his face, before finally turning and heading towards his bedroom.

He walked in to see Mightyena laying in his normal spot sound asleep already with Gardevoir sat next to him slowly rubbing his head. She looked up at Brennan as he entered the room and made his way towards his dresser.

"You can go ahead and lay down. I'm going to go jump in the shower." He said looking back at his lover over his shoulder. She stood and floated towards him before wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his back. He smiled as he placed his hands over hers.

"Gardevoir." She spoke quietly.

"I love you, you know that?" Brennan asked, continuing to look over his shoulder.

"Voir." Her response was soft, yet serious. Brennan turned around to face her, forcing her to loosen her grip on his waist. He wrapped his arms around her waist, before pulling her close to him. Her arms slid up his stomach before wrapping around his neck.

"Thank you, Gardevoir. I know I told you this already but I'm grateful for everything you've done for me over the past few days. You just don't know how much it means to me." He stared deeply into her beautiful, red eyes as he spoke. A small smile once again curled onto Gardevoir's lips as she responded.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Garde-Voir." After, she leaned in and pressed her lips against his. She had been waiting to do that all day. Brennan's hold on her tightened as their kiss deepened. They held it for a few more seconds before finally separating. They rested their foreheads together, trying to re-catch their breath. They could feel the deep layer of passion that resided in one another as they stared into each other's eyes.

Eventually Brennan felt the need to break the silence that had formed, even though he didn't want to. "If I don't look away from your beauty, I'll never get that shower." He joked. Gardevoir let out a soft giggle as he did. He leaned in and kissed her once again, before breaking his hold on her. She wasn't too fond of that. "I shouldn't be long. Go get comfortable. You deserve it." He continued, before grabbing some clean clothes and heading towards the door. Gardevoir watched as he headed out of the room, leaving her standing there. She looked towards the bed before letting out a sigh.

•••

•••

•••

Brennan had headed into the bathroom to take his shower. He began messing with the knobs before anything else. Today had gone so amazingly, he wanted to finish it off with a nice, warm shower to get him ready for bed. As he finished getting the water just how he liked it, there was a soft knock on the door. Brennan grew somewhat confused by this. He headed back over to the door, before opening it. Standing before him was Gardevoir with her sleeping clothes in her hands.

"Gardevoir, what's wrong?" Brennan asked. She looked a little embarrassed. Her cheeks were somewhat red as she stared down at the floor. He was somewhat curious as to what the problem was.

"G-Gardevoir. Gardevoir. G-Garde?" Her question flushed Brennan. She had asked him if she could take a shower with him. He had no clue where that would have come from.

"W-what? I-Uh..." he began to stammer on his words as he continued to try and take in the question she had just asked. Sure, they were together. And they had been as intimate as two lovers can be. It was just kinda surprising. Gardevoir began to grow even more embarrassed the longer Brennan stood there without giving her an answer, and he could feel it. "Yeah, yeah. Uh... come on." He replied stepping out of the way so she could enter the room. She stood in the same spot for several more seconds, before finally entering the bathroom. Once she was in, Brennan closed and locked the door behind him, making sure no one accidentally walked in on them while they were in there.

Gardevoir sat her pajamas down on the counter next to Brennan's clothes. She was still pretty embarrassed that she had even decided to do this. Brennan turned to face her, once again able to feel her embarrassment.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. It's okay, really." He was trying to reassure that it was okay. The surprise had pretty vanished from his mind at this point, so he had to help make sure the embarrassment disappeared from hers. Gardevoir slowly built up the courage to once again look at him.

"Gardevoir?" She said curiously. Brennan nodded.

"Really." His response really helped calm her down some. He could tell and was very much glad about it. Once things were calmed down, he grabbed his shirt and pulled it off over his head, before discarding it to the bathroom floor. Gardevoir watched him as he did. She bit her bottom lip as he grabbed the sides of his pants and boxers and got ready to push them down to the floor. That's when he stopped. The embarrassed blush forced its way back onto his face when he saw Gardevoir was watching him. "Y-you can't take a shower in your dress." He said adding a little chuckle afterwards. He was trying to sway her attention so he didn't feel as embarrassed. Again, sure they had already seen all of each other, but he just felt weird when people watched him undress. Even if it was his girlfriend. The feeling was kind of dumb though.

Gardevoir finally looked away from him, grabbing the shoulders of her dress as she did. She slowly pushed them down, allowing her dress to fall to the floor. This time it was Brennan's turn to stare. She still had panties on, but she wasn't wearing a bra. She was just so beautiful. He couldn't help himself. Gardevoir looked away in embarrassment as he stared.

"I'm sorry... I'm just..." he started, before trailing off as he walked towards her. He gently grabbed ahold of her waist before pulling her into a kiss. This somewhat surprised her, but her surprise quickly wore off as she joined him. They held the kiss for several seconds before breaking it. Gardevoir timidly looked into his eyes as he stared at her. "You're so beautiful..." he continued softly. A small smile forced its way onto her face as she looked away from him.

He backed up and dropped his pants so Gardevoir wouldn't feel so alone standing there with no clothes on. After seeing that, she grabbed the sides of her panties and pushed them down, letting them slide down her legs before hitting the floor with the rest of their discarded clothes.

Once they were both undressed, Brennan spoke. "It's a little chilly in here." He joked as he rubbed his arms. Gardevoir's embarrassed smile turned into a more loving one as she gently took hold of Brennan's hand and pulled him towards the shower. Gardevoir entered first, pulling Brennan in right behind her. The pair stood there allowing the warm water to rain down on their heads.

Gardevoir tilted her head back and closed her eyes, letting out a soft moan as the water soaked her face. Brennan stood in front of her, watching, a smile on his face. He gently grabbed her hips once again, causing her to look back at him. He gently pulled her towards him, hugging her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. The couple stood there enjoying the moment. Just letting the water run off of them. It was relaxing. And there was no one either of them would rather be doing it with than the one in their arms at that moment.

Brennan leaned down allowing their lips to meet once again. They only held the kiss for a few seconds before they broke it. After they did, he motioned for her to turn around, she listened. Once she did, he grabbed the soap and slowly began washing her back for her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hands slowly moving around her. He moved the soap up to her shoulders, before gently running it down her right arm. As he did, that's when he finally noticed all the bruises and marks on her arms from Team Scavenge's "experiments". He softly ran his hands down her arms, shaking his head as he did. He knew they were pretty caught up in what they were doing the previous night, but he honestly didn't know how he had missed this. He really didn't.

Gardevoir stood in silence, before looking down towards the floor of the tub. Brennan quickly wrapped his arms around her body pulling her against him, and resting his lips on her right shoulder. "I'm so... sorry, Gardevoir. I'm so sorry." He apologized quietly as he lifted his lips. Gardevoir shook her head as she reached around and clutched the hair on the back of his head. "I told you I would protect you... and I let this happen to you. I'm sorry." Hearing him say this broke her heart. She could feel his sadness—his remorse for what had happened returning.

She turned around and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. She didn't blame him for anything. She never had. She never would. "Gardevoir. Gardevoir." She told him she loved him. She still believed that he would protect her. Just like she would him. Nothing would change that... ever.

The two stood in silence, sharing each other's embraces, as they continued to allow the water to run off of them. They needed each other. They were going to be there for each other.

Gardevoir rested her head against Brennan's chest as he tightened his hold on her. "That won't happen again. I promise you. With my life, I promise you." Gardevoir took the seriousness in his tone as truth. She looked up at him before once again kissing him.

"Gardevoir... Garde." She said as they broke the kiss. "And with my life, I promise YOU."


	28. Chapter 28

After finishing their shower, Brennan and Gardevoir headed to bed. They slept close that night. Like, they needed each other to make it through the night. Gardevoir slept cuddled comfortably into Brennan's side, with her head resting on his shoulder. Brennan allowed her to get comfortable before wrapping his arms around her. Not too tightly, but tight enough to know that she was safe.

After his discovery in the shower, and the promise he once again made to her, Brennan began to doubt if he could actually live up to it. He had already let her down once, what was stopping him from doing again? Him telling her the same thing he did before? It honestly terrified him to his very core. He did love Gardevoir. He knew that. But she deserved more than a promise that he wasn't even sure he could keep.

He had laid awake most of the night unable to fall asleep. Even after Gardevoir had, he just couldn't. His self doubt wouldn't allow him to. He began to grow frustrated. He did his very best to hold it back because he didn't want to disturb Gardevoir. She had been through a lot over the past week. She deserved to rest.

All in all, Brennan was only able to get about forty-five minutes of sleep in total. He was just glad Gardevoir had been able to sleep through the night. She tossed and turned a little, but he kept his old on her. He wasn't sure if she was having a bad dream, or what. But regardless of whether she knew it or not, he was there to help her relax again.

He tiredly glanced over at the clock, he had honestly lost track of time. Most of his night was spent staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. The sun shining through the blinds was what had told him it was morning.

"Six Thirty." He muttered to himself. It was still pretty early. He felt as though he needed to try and get some more sleep. But he also knew no matter how hard he tried, it wasn't going to happen. He let out a mental sigh as he went back to staring at the ceiling.

As he laid there, he felt Gardevoir begin to try to readjust herself. He looked down watching as she nuzzled her head into his shoulder. Under the covers, he felt one of her thin legs loop around his left one. After, she let out a deep breath, before once again becoming still. He smiled and gently kissed the top of her head, before staring back up at the ceiling. He loved her so much. That's why he knew, even if he failed, he had to try and protect her—to keep her safe. But he also knew failure wasn't an option, and it never would be.

He had remained lost in thought for several hours afterwards, still unable to fall asleep. He got to the point where he was trying make out shapes in the textured finish of the ceiling. That went about as well as expected. He glanced over at the clock taking notice of the time. It was now almost nine o'clock. He let out a low sigh before looking back towards the ceiling. His eyes didn't remain there too long before he felt Gardevoir moving again. He looked down just as she opened her eyes. He smiled as they met.

"Good morning." The tiredness in his voice was present. That's the first thing Gardevoir noticed.

"Gardevoir." She replied before moving her lips up to his. That was the first thing she intended on doing every single morning. It was a good start to the day to her.

"You sleep okay?" Brennan asked as their lips parted. Even though he didn't get any sleep, he was hoping she was comfortable the entire night. That's all he cared about. She nodded, before resting her head back onto his shoulder. Her arm draped over his chest as she let out a cute yawn. "That's good." He said before resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"Gardevoir?" She said curiously. Brennan let out a light chuckle before replying.

"I... didn't get much sleep." He admitted. This caused Gardevoir to once again lift her head to look at him.

"Voir?" She asked. Her tone was a mixture of surprise and worry. Brennan at least got THAT much out of it. He honestly wasn't really sure how to answer that. He didn't want to upset her. He didn't want to tell her that he was doubting himself. He just... didn't.

"I don't know. I just... couldn't sleep." His reply was somewhat dull. But at the spur of the moment, that's the best he could come up with. And it's not like it was a lie. It just wasn't the full truth. Gardevoir stared at him, her large eyes locked onto his. She didn't look like she was buying it. However, her expression was quite blank. It was honestly hard to tell what she was thinking at that point.

She stayed silent, just staring at him. She seemed... focused? He began to grow very confused as to what she was doing.

"Uh... Gardevoir? What are you-" he began, before being cut off by her placing one of her fingers on his lips, silencing him. Her finger didn't stay there for long, however, her focused expression remained. It looked as if she wasn't mentally there anymore. It was weird, and definitely uncharacteristic of her. Several more seconds passed before she finally blinked again. "Are... you okay?" He asked, definitely worried at this point.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde?" She asked, ignoring his question. Her own question shocked Brennan.

"W-what? G-Gardevoir... how did you-" he began to question her, before being cut off.

"-Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir?" She interrupted him before he could finish with a quick answer, before repeating her own question. She had asked him if he really didn't think he could protect her. Once she said that, she began to feel his self doubt. Brennan was shocked. She had just read his thoughts. That what she had been focused on?

He tried to let the shock wear off just a little before finally deciding he had to say something. Anything at that point. Gardevoir was waiting for an answer. He had to give her one. "Gardevoir, I don't know. I'm just worried. I already lost you once because I couldn't protect you. What if it happens again?" He asked, sitting up, forcing Gardevoir to do the same. He didn't even want to make eye contact with her. Gardevoir sat on her knees, staring at him, as he stared past her towards the wall behind her. She shook her head, before gently grabbing ahold of his face.

"Gardevoir. Gardevoir. Garde-Voir. Garde." She had all the faith in the world in him. There wasn't even the slightest bit of doubt in her mind about what he had said to her. They were blindsided the first time. That wouldn't happen again. "Gardevoir. Garde." She said softly, slowly moving her face towards his till they were only a few inches away from each other. Brennan closed his eyes before letting out a sigh.

"I love you too. I just need to know that I can keep you safe." His response caused a small, sympathetic smile to curl onto her lips.

"Garde-voir." She spoke softly, before once again pressing her lips against his. "You can." was her response. She was trying to reassure him. She didn't want him doubting himself. He didn't need to.

He slowly wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her as close to him as her spike would allow. Her hands finally slid from the side of his face to around his neck, meeting in the back. Their kiss deepened. It was one full of the passion and love they felt for one another.

Brennan eventually pulled away, causing Gardevoir to frown. Her frown didn't last long before he began kissing down her face, to her neck. He stopped, resting his head on her shoulder for several seconds, taking in her scent, before he began to kiss her neck. She cocked her head to the side, closing her eyes as she did. She eventually let out a soft moan letting Brennan know she was enjoying what he was doing.

He wanted to go a step further, but once again managed to make himself stop. Gardevoir's frown returned once again, wondering why he stopped. Brennan motioned behind her towards the still sleeping Mightyena that rested just a good three feet away from them. She glanced back, before looking back towards Brennan.

"Guess now isn't the time for that." Brennan said. He let out a little chuckle as he finished to try and mask his own disappointment. Albeit disappointed, Gardevoir nodded in agreement. After, he gave her a small smile, before once again pulling her into a hug. "I'm going to try. I promise." He was quiet. It was almost a whisper. But Gardevoir heard him. She wrapped her arms around him, returning the hug.

They held the hug for a good minute and a half, just enjoying being in each other's embraces. But eventually, they broke it, just smiling at each other. "Come on, I'll make you some breakfast." Brennan spoke, before swinging his legs off the side of the bed. He sat on the edge, letting out a yawn, and stretching as he did. Gardevoir watched from behind with a smile as he did. It didn't take long for that smile to turn more devious. She jumped towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and letting out a happy cry a little louder than she meant too, surprisingly not waking Mightyena. Brennan was caught off guard by this. He almost slipped off the edge of the bed and landed in the floor. He looked over his shoulder with a small smirk on his face, as Gardevoir lovingly nuzzled hers into his back.

"Okay, okay, I'll give you a piggy back ride to the kitchen." He spoke. Gardevoir let out another happy cry, this one more quiet than the last. As Brennan went to stand up, she wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to grab hold of them. After he had her up, he looked back over his shoulder. "Ready?" He asked. Gardevoir nodded.

"Voir." Brennan smiled, before taking off towards the door. He managed to open it without it slowing him down too much, before picking right back up as he entered the hallway. Gardevoir let out another not-too-loud happy cry as they made their way down the hallway. Brennan couldn't help but chuckle, himself. Gardevoir was cute as hell. He was glad she was enjoying something so childish.

Brennan's smile remained on his face as they passed through the living room. Blaziken, Pichu, and Machamp all remained sleeping. He was definitely happy to see that sight again.

Once they made it to the kitchen, he stopped. He let out an exaggerated deep breath, as Gardevoir continued to lovingly hold on to him. "Maybe you can give me a ride next time." He said jokingly, not realizing how weird it sounded until after he said it. Gardevoir blushed, hiding her face in his back.

"G-Gardevoir." She said so quietly it was almost unable to be heard. Now it was Brennan's turn to get flushed. "I want to." is what she had said. After she did, she finally jumped off of his back, still trying to hide her embarrassment. Brennan scratched the back of his neck, trying to bush his own embarrassment away.

"O-okay, hows about that breakfast." He said hurriedly, trying to get his mind off of what had just happened. He didn't wait for Gardevoir to respond before heading to the fridge and pulling it open. He began looking through it to see what there was. And considering he hadn't been shopping in a couple of weeks, there wasn't much of anything. "I have some eggs. And I think I have some sausage patties in the-" he grabbed the eggs and stood up out the fridge as he spoke, but he was cut off. Gardevoir had rushed forward and smashed her lips into his, knocking him back against the fridge, causing him to drop the eggs in the process. He was surprised. She was kissing him like she hadn't seen him in years.

He tried to pull away... but he couldn't. He was enjoying her lips too much. His hands made their way to her waist, before slowly moving up her back, pulling her close to him.

Gardevoir was shocked at what she was doing, too. She knew she was just in heat, but she had never felt like this before. She knew she was being somewhat forceful, but she couldn't help it. But it seemed like Brennan was enjoying it at least. That was a positive.

She eventually pulled her lips away from his, before quickly moving them to his neck like he had done to her earlier. She begin lightly nibbling on his neck, enticing a soft moan to escape his lips.

"G-Gardevoir... w-what are you— we can't." He tried to protest. He was mentally at war with himself right now. He wanted to continue, but again, he knew they couldn't. The strong wave of lust he was feeling was trying to convince him otherwise. "G-Gardevoir. Gardevoir, hey. We... can't. Not right now." He finally moved his hands back to her waist and gently pushed her back enough to force her to stop. His lust slowly began to fade after that. He figured that was a good thing. Gardevoir frowned at this.

"Gardevoir?" She asked. Brennan honestly wasn't sure of the answer to give her.

"I don't know when. But not now. What if one of the others were to walk in or something?" He said curiously.

"Gardevoir. Garde." She replied.

"Yeah, I know they're asleep... right now. Doesn't mean they will be forever." He said. "Look, we'll get some more alone time eventually. But for now, I'm going to get on that breakfast." He continued, before looking down at the eggs on the floor. Luckily for him the carton had remained closed. He was hoping at least some of the eggs were salvageable.

As Gardevoir watched him bend down to pick them up, she spoke again. There was a question on her mind that she needed to ask. "Gardevoir. Gardevoir?" This caused Brennan to look back in her direction. He stood in his bent down position for several seconds, before sighing as he returned to his normal upright position.

"I promise you, we'll tell them. I just... Blaziken just got back. I think we should give him a little time before we drop this on him." He replied. He figured that was the right answer to give her. It's not like he was TRYING to hide their new relationship from his other Pokémon, he just knew now wasn't the best time to tell them about it. Gardevoir seemed to take that as an acceptable answer, as she didn't say anything else about it.

After that, Brennan began their breakfast. Luckily for him only a couple of the eggs broke. The rest somehow remained intact. As he cooked them, he couldn't help but think back to the way Gardevoir had read his mind. He knew she was a Psychic. But still. It also made him wonder if she had in fact read it before.

"So Gardevoir, that mind reading thing... have you done that before?" He asked, hoping he wouldn't somehow offend her in any way. Gardevoir, who had been sitting at the table waiting for breakfast to be done, looked at him.

"Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir. Gardevoir." She replied. She told him no, she hadn't. That's why it took her so long to do earlier because she had to break the mental barrier between the two. He was the first person she had even tried it on. It was a bit of a struggle the first time, but since they were now intertwined on such a deep level at this point, it should start getting easier to do.

Brennan seemed quite intrigued by this. "So... do you know what I'm thinking right now?" He was curious if she was indeed right about it being easier for her to do.

"Gardevoir. Garde." She replied. He had been thinking about something simple. The two of them sitting and eating breakfast, and she knew EXACTLY what had been on his mind. He smiled and nodded.

"Okay my little mind reader." He said jokingly, causing a slight flush to run over her face. She was definitely special. Sure, this is average stuff most psychic Pokémon could do, but it almost seemed like she was able to do something new every day. "Breakfast is almost ready." Gardevoir's flush faded as he spoke to her again. She nodded in response.

Brennan couldn't help but just smile back at her. She was incredible. Yeah, he thought this mind reading thing was cool, but he also knew that now she could check to see what he was thinking about whenever she wanted to. So he was going to have to start being really careful. Not that he had anything to hide from her...

It didn't take too long for breakfast to be ready. And when it was, THATS when his Pokémon started lining up. It's like... they could sense it. In order for everyone to get some, they didn't get a whole lot each, but it was something. At least what Brennan could do until he could make it back to the store.

After breakfast, the group sat around in the living room taking turns watching stuff on tv. Brennan really didn't have much of anything planned for that day. He knew Luna, Lane, and Delphox were supposed to stop back by, but that was about it. Besides that, he knew Blaziken had to take it easy for a couple of weeks based on what the doctor had said. The last thing he wanted was to aggregate his injuries.

Brennan sat on one end of the couch with his feet propped up onto the coffee table. Gardevoir, who was sat next to him, kept taking short glances at him. She didn't know why she was feeling so... clingy all of the sudden, but she just wanted to be close to him. She scooted herself closer towards him, before resting against his side. He glanced down at her as she grabbed the arm he had had resting on the back of the couch, and draped it around her shoulder. Once she was comfortable, her large, red eyes looked up to meet his. She was so cute. His somewhat blank expression curved into a smile as he stared back at her.

The pair held eye contact for several seconds, before focusing back on the tv. Gardevoir was happy. She was content with just relaxing in Brennan's arms. As they sat there, she couldn't help but glance over at Blaziken to see if he was even paying them any mind. He wasn't. He sat on the opposite end of the couch as Brennan with a small relaxed smile on his face— Pichu resting happily in his lap. She was curious because Brennan said he didn't want to tell them about their relationship yet. But she figured if Blaziken was paying attention to them, he'd wonder why they were so cuddled together.

But after thinking about, she decided it didn't really matter any way. She knew that the others would find out whenever Brennan was ready to tell them. And hopefully they would understand. After pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind, she went back to contently relaxing. She was happy... that was until a knock on the door interrupted. Brennan pulled his feet off of the table and stood up, forcing Gardevoir out of her comfortable position. She was a bit upset about that. As Brennan walked to the door, he could feel her emotions. He turned back around to look at her and saw the pouty frown they had taken over her face.

"I'll be right back." He assured her, before continuing on his way to the door. Once he got there, he opened it and saw Luna, Lane, and Delphox standing before him. He smiled. "Long time no see." He joked as he motioned for the group to come in. They got a good chuckle out of it.

"It sure has! A whole twelve hours!" Luna exclaimed happily. Brennan let out a chuckle of his own as he closed the door back. After they had entered, Delphox wasted zero time going over to Blaziken.

"Blazi-" Blaziken was in the middle of greeting her, but got cut off before he could finish by her grabbing the sides of his head as she leaned down, pulling him into a kiss. She held it for a good few seconds before finally separating. "k-ken..." he finished, slightly dazed as he did.

"Delphox." Delphox spoke as she sat down next to him, checking on his casted arm as she did. Luna watched with a smile on her face. She seriously thought they were just too cute. Gardevoir looked over, watching the pair. Delphox was worried about Blaziken. It was pretty obvious. Again, Blaziken tried to reassure her that he was okay, but that wasn't stopping her. For some reason she began to feel jealous of the couple. She wanted attention from her significant other too. She looked back towards Brennan, opening her arms as she did, motioning him to come back to her. Brennan immediately took notice.

Without bringing too much attention to it, he spoke. "So we were just watching tv. Didn't really have anything planned for today." He said as he made his way back towards the couch.

"That's okay. Tv it is!" Luna exclaimed happily. She really didn't care what they were doing. She just enjoyed it when everyone was together. She smiled at him as he sat back down on the couch. Almost as soon as he did, Gardevoir was back to clinging to him, completely ignoring the fact that there were now other people in the room. He was just hoping Luna and Lane didn't make anything of it.

As they sat around watching tv, and making random conversation with one another, Brennan couldn't help but wonder exactly what was up with Gardevoir. He was just curious as to why she was acting so clingy all of the sudden. Even around other people. Sure, he did enjoy holding her, and cuddling her. But this was a little out of character, even for her. And it had all happened in the last few hours, which made it even more weird.

He began to wonder if he was just overthinking things and maybe she just wanted to be close to him. But he couldn't help but think that there was something more going on. He glanced down at her, her eyes remaining straight towards the tv. She looked calm. Happy even. He definitely enjoyed the sight.

Unbeknownst to Brennan, Gardevoir had indeed been reading his thoughts. She didn't react to them because she didn't want it alert him. She could feel his building curiosity, that's what convinced her to see what he was thinking about. She glanced up at him, his eyes returning to the tv mere seconds earlier. He may have looked somewhat fine on the outside, but she could still feel his worry. It was honestly pretty upsetting.

Her thoughts remained on him for several more seconds, before she was finally broke away by the sound of a cell phone going off. Brennan glanced down towards the coffee table where his feet rested, staring at his now vibrating phone. He sat up, again to Gardevoir's dismay, before grabbing it.

"It's Mom." He announced. This somewhat excited his other Pokémon. He stood up and made his way out of the room to answer the call so he didn't disturb the others while they watched the show that was playing on the tv.

Gardevoir sat in silence, watching as he disappeared out of the room. She was honestly pretty curious what the call was about. Even if it did make her nosy. Brennan wasn't gone for too long before reemerging from down the hallway.

"Is everything alright?" Luna asked, looking at him as he reappeared. He nodded.

"Yeah. She said her and Dad want us to come visit soon. Told her it wouldn't be till after Blaziken is healed though. Can't risk making that trip with the shape he's in." He replied. Luna nodded in agreement. "But I was thinking, we should make a trip out of it. There's that nice beach down Route 109. Figured since we have to go through there anyways, we could stop and hangout for a day." He looked around as he spoke. The others seemed to like that idea. His parents lived in Dewford Town, so they were going to have to take a ship ride across Route 107 and Route 108 to get there. They moved there not too long before Brennan officially stopped traveling. Their reasoning was they liked the environment more than Slateport.

"Yeah! I love that idea!" Luna exclaimed excitedly. "I've been wanting to take a trip to the beach for a while!" She continued. Lane nodded.

"Yeah... she has." He said.

"I'm sure Mom and Dad would love to see you guys again, too." Brennan said.

"It's been ages since I've seen your parents!" Luna exclaimed. Brennan's parents had always treated both Luna and Lane like their own. So he already knew they wouldn't mind if they tagged along with him and his Pokémon.

"Besides that, I also have a couple new members of my team to introduce them to." Brennan said with a smile, glancing over towards Gardevoir, and then Pichu. He hadn't officially "caught" either one of them yet, but they were still not only part of his team... but his family. Gardevoir grew quite nervous at the thought of meeting new people. Especially considering this time they weren't just anyone, they were Brennan's parents.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll love them!" Luna said happily as she looked towards Pichu, who was sat on Blaziken's lap.

"Well, guess it's a trip then?" Land said. Brennan nodded.

"Yup. It's a trip." He said. He was honestly both nervous, and excited for it. It had been awhile since he had gone to the beach, but he'd be taking both Gardevoir and Pichu for the first time. He was just worried how his parents were going to react to Gardevoir. He was hoping they loved her as much as he did. But at the same time, what if they didn't because of how special she is? He quickly tried to shake the worry away just in case she decided to hop into his head again. His smile returned to his face as he rejoined her on the couch, looping his arm back around her shoulder as he did. Their spur of the moment trip was planned. Now it was time to wait for Blaziken to heal up.


End file.
